BASE PROCESS

Phase 1.  ASSESSMENT and DISCOVERY

The first requirement for any problem solving process is that all parties understand the entire problem domain accurately. Because the systems dynamics requires a deep understanding of the problem domain, we use a combination of methods to elicit the necessary information. The principal methods we use to define a problem are:

Assessment. This is a standard template-driven question and answer survey to establish an overview of the problem domain. It can be as simple as question and answer sessions with selected stakeholders to large-scale statistical surveys of the areas under review.

Discovery. We have learned that a complete appreciation of a problem requires an understanding of how it arose and how various stakeholders view it. The process of discovery uncovers hidden cause-and-effect relationships that survey type assessments cannot reveal. Discovery uses soft systems modeling (SSM) techniques to build a ‘big picture’ that defines clearly all of the influence relationships that affect the problem domain. Discovery typically requires a series of iterations before an accurate consensus mental model can be built. We then construct a set of computer simulations to test fly possible solutions.

Phase 2.  ACTION PLAN DESIGN

Following assessment and discovery we design a scalable Action Plan. It includes results of the simulations and lays out various scenarios. The Action Plan is circulated to stakeholders for review.