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Solid Oak Consulting, LLC |
522 South Elmwood Avenue Oak Park, IL 60304 Phone 708-524-0886 Fax 206-238-2835 www.solidoakconsulting.com |
Press Release
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Contact: Tom Long Phone: (708) 524-0886 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10/12/2005 |
Tom Long Invited To Teach An Approach to Systems
Thinking at DePaul University, Chicago
OAK PARK, ILLINOIS –
Tom Long, President of Solid Oak Consulting, has been invited to teach An
Approach To Systems Thinking at DePaul University.
This course will
introduce students to the basic concepts of systems thinking using dynamic
systems modeling techniques.
The primary emphasis in
the course will be the introduction of basic systems fundamentals and the
actual construction of several business process models.
Systems Thinking, in
practice, is a continuum of activities that range from the conceptual to the
technical: At the conceptual end of the spectrum is adoption of a systems
perspective or viewpoint. You are adopting a systems viewpoint when you are
standing back far enough—in both space and time—to be able to see the
underlying web of ongoing, reciprocal relationships which are cycling to
produce the patterns of behavior that a system is exhibiting. You’re employing
a systems perspective when you can see the forest (of relationships),
for the trees. You are not employing a systems perspective when you get
“trapped in an event.” Anyone who has gazed out at the lights from high above a
city, or gazed down upon a river valley from a mountaintop, has a good sense of
what “standing back far enough” means. Details fade. Patterns of relationships
emerge. And, time seems to slow. Conversely, anyone who’s been caught in the
frenzy of rush hour traffic on a multilane freeway knows what being “trapped in
an event” really means. The former is inherently awesome, empowering and
expansive. The latter is inherently mundane, consuming and constraining. Moving rightward along the continuum,
activities become more concerned with implementation of the viewpoint. As they
do, they also become progressively more disciplined and analytical. You might
typically begin implementation by developing an influence diagram—a simple map
of the reciprocal relationships that you believe to be principally responsible
for producing the behavior
patterns that a
system is exhibiting. These maps basically show what’s hooked up to what. Next,
you might construct a structural diagram. This is a more disciplined map. It
attempts to show what really makes a system tick. At this stage of the process,
you’re laying out the mechanisms you think the system is using to control
itself. Finally, you might take the step of translating the structural diagram
into a set of equations. The equations characterize the nature of the
relationships that you laid out in your structural diagram. This activity also
includes assigning numerical values to define the direction and strength of
these relationships. Completing this step enables you to simulate the system’s
behavior on a computer. Being able to do this often is very important because
it permits you to “close the loop” on your thinking. You can answer the
question: Can the
set of reciprocal
relationships that I’ve pieced together in fact generate the behavior patterns
that are being produced by the actual system?
-End-
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Thomas E. Long, Solid Oak Consulting, LLC
522 South Elmwood Avenue, Oak
Park, Illinois 60304 708-524-0886