Systems Thinking Through Storytelling
1 pm NY | 6 pm London | 2 am (Nov 16) Beijing | Time Converter
Systems Thinking Through Storytelling
Join us for a free seminar with Linda Booth Sweeney and Philip Ramsey, systems educators and authors whose books help teach about systems thinking through storytelling.
Linda will share “Curious about Connections,” a simple, inquiry-based teaching framework that fosters collaborative, inclusive dialogue while promoting systems thinking, critical thinking, communication skills, and empathy. She’ll demonstrate how to use this facilitation method using picture books as well as everyday scenarios. She is excited to share this facilitation method with our System Dynamics community and to explore ways families, teachers, and professionals can use it in a variety of settings.
Phil will share about his newly published Billibonk and Frankl book series, a collection of captivating jungle-based fables that showcase principles of systems thinking through the experiences of various animal characters. The stories are engaging and relatable to both children and adults, as they demonstrate how different species in the jungle learn to collaborate and solve problems together. The Billibonk and Frankl stories aim to help children see systems and interdependencies in the world around them.
About the Speakers
Linda Booth Sweeney is an educator, writer and strategist for healthy socio-ecological systems change, Dr. Linda Booth Sweeney is internationally recognized for her efforts to make systems thinking actionable by a wide range of audiences. In her Systems Leadership Labs, Linda creates experiences for leaders to think differently, and to experiment with language, visualization tools and knowledge architecture that better mirrors the complexity they are navigating. She is co-author of The Systems Thinking Playbook, The Climate Change Playbook, and numerous other books and journal articles. Her next book, Apart Together, is a gentle introduction to systems thinking for children and will be published by Balzer & Bray in October 2023. Linda holds her doctorate from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and lives outside of Boston where she enjoys swimming in Walden Pond and amateur farming. For more information, see:
(systems), www.lindaboothsweeney.net
(children’s) www.lindaboothsweeney.com
(metaverse) https://togglelab.com
Phil is a Senior lecturer at Massey University in New Zealand, where he teaches Organizational Learning, Leadership, and Teamwork. He also works as a Director of Incite Learning, a consulting company that mainly works with schools, helping school leaders apply Organizational Learning concepts to solve tough problems.
Digital Twin Business Models for Strategy and Operational Management
11 am NY | 4 pm London | 12 am Beijing | Time Converter
Digital Twin Business Models for Strategy and Operational Management
In the business field, dynamic models have long been used for simulating long-term plans (3+ years) and medium-term challenges and issues playing out over a few months or quarters. But models have also been used to understand shorter-term phenomena, such as in supply-chain and service-delivery cases. Often, though, the same structures and mechanisms operate over both short and long-time scales. Examples include customer acquisition and retention, and staffing (hiring, promotion, and turnover), and performance-improvement programs. This webinar will show how a single model can capture both short-term and strategic views of the same issue, enabling management to have a coherent long-term plan and to check the impact of that plan on short-term tactical episodes. Taken to the extreme, this approach can get close to offering a “digital twin” of a business or some part of the business, that closely matches its actual performance as well as the development of the wider system that drives that performance. Similar considerations may well apply to plans and challenges in other domains. In this webinar, you will learn:
- The benefits of using System Dynamics to capture both short-term and long-term perspectives of a business issue.
- How to design and implement effective digital twin architectures that can improve organizational performance.
- Real-world examples and case studies of how System Dynamics and digital twins have been used to optimize business performance and drive competitive advantage.
About the Speakers
Exploring Careers in System Dynamics
11 am NY | 4 pm London | 12 am Beijing | Time Converter
Exploring Careers in System Dynamics
Join us for an engaging panel discussion on careers in System Dynamics featuring experts Sharon Els, Eduardo Romanovski, and Georg Pallaske, moderated by Shane Carnohan. This session will provide attendees with a look into the careers of three System Dynamics experts, with discussion and advice on pursuing and maintaining a successful career.
During the panel discussion, attendees will have the opportunity to hear about the panelists’ personal experiences, career journeys, and views on the field of System Dynamics. Topics that will be covered include the skills and knowledge needed to succeed, challenges and opportunities in the field, and integrating System Dynamics into real-world professions. Learn from their extensive experience working with government and corporate clients and gain valuable insights into addressing complex business challenges.
Whether you’re a student exploring your career options or a seasoned professional looking to collaborate or broaden your understanding, this panel discussion is an excellent opportunity to gain valuable insights and learn from experts in the field.
About the Speakers
Sharon Els is an expert in business modeling and simulation with over two decades of experience. Her extensive client work includes predicting market changes, optimizing corporate resource allocation, and improving project performance. She has advised corporate executives and government leaders on complex strategy, policy, and program challenges at various technology, aerospace, finance, gaming, and government organizations. Sharon’s insights and expertise have been instrumental in providing actionable recommendations and solutions to her clients. She currently works at Sage Analysis Group, where she continues to help organizations navigate complex business challenges.
Eduard Romanenko is a System Dynamics expert who holds a Ph.D. in System Dynamics from the University of Bergen (2022) and a European Master’s degree in System Dynamics (2014). He has been working as a full-time SD modeler and researcher for the past 3.5 years. Eduard has provided SD modeling capacity for various projects, including a project on urban stormwater management in Oslo and a 5-country EU-funded project on adolescent overweight and obesity. His contributions have provided insights into complex issues related to these projects.
Georg Pallaske is a System Dynamics expert and project manager with a passion for sustainability. He works at KnowlEdge Srl., where he develops customized analyses to support government decision-making. Georg is also pursuing a PhD at the University of Bergen, focusing on integrated sustainable development policies. As a project manager, he works closely with clients from inception to the presentation of results.
System Dynamics Modeling with R. An Interactive Workshop
11 am NY | 4 pm London | 12 am Beijing | Time Converter
System Dynamics Modelling with R. An Interactive Workshop
Join us for an exciting workshop that will take your modeling to the next level by integrating R with System Dynamics. In this interactive session, James (Jim) Duggan from the University of Galway will introduce you to R’s tidyverse and key tools like ggplot2, dplyr, and purrr to process rectangular data and support System Dynamics modeling. You’ll learn how to model using deSolve, process large simulation data sets, and run code examples using your own account on Posit Cloud. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to boost your modeling skills!
Please create your free account on Posit Cloud prior to the workshop.
About the Speaker
Prof. Jim Duggan’s research focus is the area of applying System Dynamics and data science methods to public health. This includes using System Dynamics to support pandemic preparedness and response, modeling scenarios of infectious disease outbreaks and applying agile software design methods to develop a safety planning mobile app to address suicidality in young people attending community mental health services in Ireland. Prof. Duggan is a Managing Editor for the System Dynamics Review and a member of the World Health Organisation’s Global Outbreak and Response Network (GOARN).
Engaging Younger Audiences in Climate Change Education
11 am NY | 4 pm London | 12 am Beijing | Time Converter
Engaging Younger Audiences in Climate Change Education. A Bathtub Analogy.
Join us for an interactive session with Dr. Linda Booth Sweeney, a systems educator and author, as she shares innovative ways to educate children about climate change. With a recent poll indicating that 84% of parents believe children should learn about climate change, but only 45% have talked to their kids about it, this session is an opportunity to provide age-appropriate and impactful learning experiences.
While adults need age-appropriate ways to talk with children about climate change, children need opportunities to play, experiment and interact with meaningful content to learn and retain ideas. They also need analogies that “ stick” and provide them with a sense of agency.
In this session, you will learn how to use the analogy of a bathtub to help children understand the complexities of climate change and inspire action. You will explore the following learning outcomes:
- Understanding the basics of climate change dynamics through the THINK LIKE A BATHTUB video created for COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.
- Engaging students with an interactive, augmented reality THINK LIKE A BATHTUB app designed as a hands-on educational tool to demonstrate their understanding.
- Experimenting with experiential games from Linda’s book, The Climate Change Playbook.
- Accessing climate bathtub-related resources and journal articles to further educate yourself and your students.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to enhance your skills and make a positive impact on future generations.
About the Speaker
Linda Booth Sweeney is a learning expert who specializes in complex systems. In her Systems Leadership Labs, Linda works to give leaders space to think differently, and to experiment with language, visuals, tools, and knowledge architecture that better mirrors the complexity they are navigating. Linda co-founded Toggle Labs, a metaverse education studio, in 2018 to offer people of all ages immersive, learn/do opportunities to work with complex systems and co-create healthier futures. She is co-author of The Systems Thinking Playbook, The Climate Change Playbook, and numerous other books and journal articles. Linda also has a passion for writing children’s books. Her next book, Apart Together, is a child’s first book of system thinking and will be published by Balzer & Bray in September 2023. For more on Linda’s work, see on systems visit lindaboothsweeney.net, and lindaboothsweeney.com for her work on children’s education.
Systems Thinking in the Age of Digital Ecosystems
9 am NY | 2 pm London | 3 pm Central Europe | 10 pm Beijing | Time Converter
Systems Thinking in the Age of Digital Ecosystems: Engaging with a Digitalized Sustainability Future
Traditional organizational structures and cultures are challenged in today’s world where nothing about business is usual anymore. Pandemic outbreaks, human-made environmental disasters, as well as the growing importance of artificial intelligence and new technologies, are forcing a rethink about the “taken as granted” in management. How can Systems Thinking support the call for world-making innovations?
About The Speaker
Michael von Kutzschenbach is inspired by the concept of sustainability as balancing corporate profits with environmental and social well-being. He believes that true sustainability can only be achieved through understanding different perspectives and working towards common goals. He aligns his daily actions with this approach, after studying Forest and Environmental Sciences, he received a Ph.D. researching informal networks, and currently works as a business mediator, lecturer, and project manager in various organizations in Germany, Norway, and Switzerland. His areas of research are the impacts of digitization on sustainable corporate management and sustainable entrepreneurship.
Bridging Two Worlds: Academia and Practitioners
Joint Seminar Series – System Dynamics Society & UiB MINDS
The Society and UiB Minds invite you to a series of four webinars with the goal of sharing experiences and perspectives from renowned professionals in the field of System Dynamics. MINDS (Mentoring in New Dimensions) is the student-led peer mentoring initiative within the System Dynamics Group at the University of Bergen. The initiative seeks to contribute towards knowledge-sharing and expanding horizons, as well as providing a platform for networking between past and current System Dynamicists.
Planning and Managing Performance Improvement Programs
11 am NY | 4 pm London | 12 am Beijing | Time Converter
Planning and Managing Performance Improvement Programs
Organizations of all types and sizes undertake programs of effort and spending to improve their performance on issues from health & safety to Net-Zero efforts to “digital transformation”. The British Standards Institution (BSI) publishes ISO “Management Standards” for such programs, but must show potential adopters exactly how implementing these standards leads to the benefits claimed. Case examples reveal a common dynamic structure for the discovery and capture of improvement opportunities. The pace of that process is enhanced by strong leadership and the visibility of early wins, but inevitably slows as the population of potential opportunities is drained. The underlying structure and the process by which it is exploited turns out to be quite generic, and applicable to a wide range of improvement programs. BSI has used ‘serious games’ built on these principles to promote the adoption of its standards, notably to encourage the implementation of net-zero programs by businesses and other organizations.
About the Speaker
Kim Warren is an experienced strategy professional, teacher, and publisher of online courses and teaching resources on business modeling – fast becoming a mainstream capability for executives, consultants, and business students. He was awarded the Jay Wright Forrester Award by the International System Dynamics Society in 2005 and was the Society’s President in 2013.
How to Sell System Dynamics: Sales as a Process vs. Sales as a Personality
11 am NY | 4 pm London | 12 am Beijing | Time Converter
How to Sell System Dynamics: Sales as a Process vs. Sales as a Personality
In this seminar, Timothy clarifies how selling System Dynamics is less about having a sales personality than it is about following a process known as a sales pipeline. This seminar is designed for startups, early-career contractors, or other practitioners slogging through the business development cycle of landing System Dynamics contracts. Additionally, the concept and application of a sales pipeline are transferable to other applications of System Dynamics: grad school or grant applications, employment pursuits, and even publication.
About the Speaker
Timothy Clancy (Tim) is the founder of Dialectic Simulations Consulting, LLC a firm focused on delivering systems thinking and simulation capabilities to public, private, and non-profit 500 clients. Tim’s career in consulting spans over 25 years, including 10 years at IBM, where he was deeply involved in both business development and delivery. Tim has a Ph.D. in System Dynamics from WPI.
Q&A Session: From Problem Selection to Modeling and Career Development
9 am NY | 2 pm London | 3 pm Central Europe | 10 pm Beijing | Time Converter
Bridging Two Worlds: Academia and Practitioners
Joint Seminar Series – System Dynamics Society & UiB MINDS
The Society and UiB Minds invite you to a series of four webinars with the goal of sharing experiences and perspectives from renowned professionals in the field of System Dynamics. MINDS (Mentoring in New Dimensions) is the student-led peer mentoring initiative within the System Dynamics Group at the University of Bergen. The initiative seeks to contribute towards knowledge-sharing and expanding horizons, as well as providing a platform for networking between past and current System Dynamicists.
From Problem Selection to Modeling and Career Development
A Q&A session with Mohammad Jalali. An interactive event where the audience is the main driver of the talk. Questions from all directions, from how to choose a good dynamic problem to career development.
Mohammad S. Jalali (MJ) is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and works on data science and simulation-based approaches to help policymakers develop effective policies. He works with decision-makers, does fieldwork, and collects data to inform his models and analyses. Since 2019, he has received over $5 million in grant funding and his work has been featured in several publications. He has also held several editorial positions and has received multiple awards for his work. Before joining Harvard, he was a research faculty at MIT Sloan and a consultant at the World Bank.
How Food and System Dynamics Gave me a Career
10 am NY | 3 pm London | 4 pm Central Europe | 10 pm Beijing | Time Converter
Bridging Two Worlds: Academia and Practitioners
Joint Seminar Series – System Dynamics Society & UiB MINDS
The Society and UiB Minds invite you to a series of four webinars with the goal of sharing experiences and perspectives from renowned professionals in the field of System Dynamics. MINDS (Mentoring in New Dimensions) is the student-led peer mentoring initiative within the System Dynamics Group at the University of Bergen. The initiative seeks to contribute towards knowledge-sharing and expanding horizons, as well as providing a platform for networking between past and current System Dynamicists.
How Food and System Dynamics Gave me a Career
A discussion of two System Dynamics projects that had some real impact and then reflect on how this happened, and what needs to be in place for us system dynamicists to have an impact.
Birgit Kopainsky is a systems thinker and modeler who studies the role of System Dynamics analysis and modeling in facilitating transformation processes in social-ecological systems. She aims to provide guidelines for understanding complex dynamic systems and making information on climate change, agriculture, and food security accessible and relevant for action. She works in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa and engages with a wide range of stakeholders to achieve breakthrough moments of understanding and promote change toward resilience and sustainability. She currently works as a full-time professor at the University of Bergen for the Master’s program in System Dynamics.