Systems Dynamics

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Structure determines Behavior

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When John D. Sterman wrote "structure determines behavior" (2000) he gave us a path in which anything could be solved, any complex situation in the world could now be seen with a new approach that could create an essential solution to leverage any system. Why should we look for an essential solution? Antoine de Saint-Exupery wrote "the essential is invisible to the eyes", and it that looks like an iceberg, where the part that is visible above the sea is an effect of the mass that is submerged in the ocean. In other terms, the above part, the visible one is a Perceived Structure (Saeed, 2009), the one that is beneath is a Latent Structure  (Saeed, 2009), the first cannot exist without the latest, the second structure is a cause for the effect (the peak of the iceberg). When we see a problem in a business, we use several techniques to diagnose or to get to the root cause (5 why, Ishikawa Diagram, FMEA, among others) and correct it the cause of the problem, or...
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A Roach Story

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Imagine that you go into the kitchen for a nightcap, you turn on the lights and suddenly a bunch of little brown dots start moving all over the place, roaches, you get angry, sick, and then hands-on go get the insecticide bottle and in a shout start killing all the roaches. (I wanted to add a picture of an infested kitchen but the ones I found were too disturbing, you could ask google if you'd like to). Let's reflect for a moment and think, what will happen the next time you go into the kitchen? will you have more or fewer roaches? yes, will this be sustainable? no, in a few days roaches will rise and make you yell again. And this could be a forever battle. This because every kind of insecticide will have a different efficiency and a degradation time . By the time you see a roach you have to know that it got there because you had an ecosystem that made life possible, they need three things moisture, food, and heat. When the environment meets the minimal conditions for life...
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