Ventana software support forum

Jim Hines asked whether there was "any real reason ... to run experience through statistical methods as opposed to running it through, say, a good story telling machine?" I think any good Organisation Behaviourist/Organization Behaviorist would point out that part of what makes many busine...

Since we seem all to be interested in understanding/discussing the "law-like patterns" that drive the way the universe works, I thought it might be useful to share the following link: http://www.edge.org/q2004/q04_print.html www.Edge.org, the self-styled "on-line intellectual salon&qu...

Ray Joseph gave me some specific feedback on what I said about Models for Winning Business. I think that I agree with nearly all of it! For sure, as he says, "we can not guarantee a sale, but by doing our homework [into how the system works], we can maximize our likelihood of success or minimiz...

Hello George, I assume your question refers to the recent Inland Revenue deal. I used to work for EDS, who lost that deal, and who used a "strategic selling" process. No doubt CSC uses something similar, and the answers to your questions are really hidden/contained within whatever sales pr...

My question is whether System Dynamics has anything fundamental or unique to say about the nature of the universe. Let me explain: "System Dynamics" (it seems to me) is about making explicit our "mental models" of how we each think the world works, and converting them into comput...

Ivo, You are right that if you want to improve your incentive system, then you need to know what it is "for": improving productivity. For short article (with an "SD-kind-of-approach") on the wider issue of productivity, please see: http://www.finnjackson.com/articles/productivity...

Hello, Martin Schaffernicht asks whether it is possible to build a system dynamics model that "learns". The answer is yes, and no. On the one hand, any balancing or negative feedback loop is one that learns: it learns how to alter the different variables involved in order to optimise the t...

Ed Gallaher asked: Can anyone provide examples that contradict Jays assertion? Jay Forrester wrote: "No where in nature or human affairs is a true derivative to be found. Nature only integrates or accumulates. No instrument can instantaneously measure a rate; all such instruments contain some f...

It is almost 20 years since I did my theoretical nuclear physics, but: 1) at the particle level, one no longer talks about "cause" and "effect". Rather, one particle or set of particles may simply TRANSFORM into another set of particles or particle. (Symmetry states that the resu...