REPLY SD Impact on National Government Policies (SD6139)

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Posted by  "Mitchel Kling, M.D." <klingm at mail.nih.gov>
I have been following this thread, and appreciate all of the interest  and 
input that has been generated.  I think Prof. Forrester's  remarks, as 
expected, are entirely on target with regard to SD's  relative lack of 
penetration into government policymaking.   Government, at best, can only 
do what the society it serves "wants"  it to do, which in turn is dependent 
on the voices of its  constituents, however these are determined in a given 
political  system.  A Federal system like ours in the US is necessarily more  
complex and diverse than one might find at a local level, such as a  town or 
city.  I agree that it would be extremely useful to see books  written to 
convey to the public how SD thinking and modeling can  produce results that 
are counterintuitive, and to relate some of the  many "success stories" 
resulting from implementation of the output of  SD models.  In beginning to 
read the work of Prof. Forrester and  others on the impact of SD principles 
in business and urban planning,  I was struck by the apparent lack of such 
books to date.

I hope that the comments by Prof. Forrester and others will stimulate  more 
interest in producing such works.  While I don't feel I have the  expertise 
to undertake such a task at this time, I would be happy to  contribute and/
or collaborate in any way I can.  As an alumnus of MIT  myself, albeit in 
life sciences (Course VII-B, 1976), as well as a  practicing psychiatrist, 
I can appreciate the way in which  mathematical modeling can bring rigor to 
framing and solving a  problem in a way that can directly contrast with 
intuition, and I  often use mathematical and systems analogies in my work 
with patients  to help them better understand their tendencies to repeat 
and re- create maladaptive behavioral patterns.  These kinds of analogs also  
help patients understand how the medications I prescribe can help  their 
symptoms of anxiety and depression.

In my initial reply to Lou Macovsky's query, I was thinking more  about the 
potential use of SD principles and modeling in government  operations, rather 
than policy per se.  Given the examples and prior  experience with business 
and urban planning, it seems to me that  there is something to be gained by 
asking whether government  executives can apply SD methods to improve the 
way in which their  agencies or offices function.  I would be interested in 
the input of  the SD community:  is this issue separable from the larger issue 
of  SD modeling of public policy?  As I think about it, it occurs to me  that 
there may not be much value, and in fact there may be great  detriment, to a 
governmental system's more efficiently carrying out  policies that are 
counterproductive to start with!

As a government employee, I feel I would be remiss if I didn't add  the 
requisite postscript that "the above views are my own, and do not  reflect 
those of the NIMH, NIH, DHHS, or other branch of the Federal  government"....

- Mitch
----------------------
 Mitchel A. Kling, M.D.
 Staff Clinician
 Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program
 Intramural Research Programs
 National Institute of Mental Health
 NIH 10/2D-46, MSC 1284
 10 Center Drive
 Bethesda, MD 20892-1284 
Posted by  "Mitchel Kling, M.D." <klingm at mail.nih.gov>
posting date  Thu, 4 Jan 2007 09:59:09 -0500