The Origins of System Dynamics
Posted: Tue Apr 11, 1995 5:27 pm
Recently, I posted a comment about the origins of system dynamics, to which
George Richardson and John Sterman both responded. John suggested Georges
book (Feedback Thought in Social Science and Systems Theory) was well worth
reading, and George indicated that system dynamics "closest intellectual
ancestors reside in engineering servomechanisms theory and practice, not
general systems theory..." I will indeed obtain and read Georges book and I
am especially appreciative of Georges comment about servomechanisms. You
see, for 14 of my 20 years in the United States Navy I operated, maintained,
and repaired very complex shipboard weapons systems (missiles and guns). As
you might guess, servomechanisms and feedback loops were at the heart of it
all. So, when late in my Navy career I laid down my technicians tools and
picked up those of the organizational specialist, some of my early
observations about organizations (social systems) and their processes
included:
a) the lack of schematics
b) the lack of commonly agreed upon referents
c) the lack of feedback loops
Since leaving the Navy more than 20 years ago, I have had a great deal of fun
and success remedying the three conditions listed above (and I remain
convinced that, by and large, the social sciences do not at all grasp the
concept of feedback as it is understood by technicians and engineers).
Fred nickols
fnickols@ets.org
red nickols" <fnickols@ets.org>
George Richardson and John Sterman both responded. John suggested Georges
book (Feedback Thought in Social Science and Systems Theory) was well worth
reading, and George indicated that system dynamics "closest intellectual
ancestors reside in engineering servomechanisms theory and practice, not
general systems theory..." I will indeed obtain and read Georges book and I
am especially appreciative of Georges comment about servomechanisms. You
see, for 14 of my 20 years in the United States Navy I operated, maintained,
and repaired very complex shipboard weapons systems (missiles and guns). As
you might guess, servomechanisms and feedback loops were at the heart of it
all. So, when late in my Navy career I laid down my technicians tools and
picked up those of the organizational specialist, some of my early
observations about organizations (social systems) and their processes
included:
a) the lack of schematics
b) the lack of commonly agreed upon referents
c) the lack of feedback loops
Since leaving the Navy more than 20 years ago, I have had a great deal of fun
and success remedying the three conditions listed above (and I remain
convinced that, by and large, the social sciences do not at all grasp the
concept of feedback as it is understood by technicians and engineers).
Fred nickols
fnickols@ets.org
red nickols" <fnickols@ets.org>