QUERY Forming a System Dynamics Institute (SD6556)

[SDMAIL Kim Warren]

Posted by  "Kim Warren" <Kim at strategydynamics.com>

In his Keynote address at the Society conference, Professor Forrester
made a persuasive argument that the progress of SD's influence might be
accelerated if it were not hampered by its status in relation to most
Universities' established departments [the establishment of Engineering
schools over a century ago may indicate a precedent]. It seems unlikely
that this situation will change any time soon, so a search for an
alternative might be fruitful. [I hope I have not mis-stated Jay's point
here].
 
Other fields/methods appear to have broken this constraint by the
creation of dedicated Institutes. A couple of examples .. 
1. The 'Balanced Scorecard' has achieved extensive uptake amongst mid-
to larg-size corporations in just a decade. Whilst its books and
articles have undoubtedly been helpful, it is also supported by The
Balanced Scorecard Institute [see www.balancedscorecard.org ] which
offers an extensive range of resources, plus frequent training at
different levels - it also offers consulting services, though it is not
clear how central this is to its success. It has also spawned a vast
number of look-alike services from a diverse array of organizations,
from small consulting and training firms up to large institutions.
Exactly how influential the BSC Institute itself has been is not clear,
but without its creation the method might have languished as a fringe
activity within management school accounting departments. 
2. The Chartered Financial Analyst Institute "is a non-profit
organization that aims to lead the investment profession by setting
standards for education, integrity and professional excellence" [see
www.cfainstitute.org ].  It administers a curriculum and exams
supporting an accreditation program, and over the last decade its
membership has I believe grown exponentially to a scale of many tens of
thousands, if not hundreds of thousands worldwide. CFAI too has spawned
a large number of related educational services from other organisations.
The activities of these two bodies seem to mirror those of many
professional institutes outside the management field, such as in
engineering or architecture, and Institutes of course play a major role
in many other management disciplines, e.g. Marketing and Human
Resources. That role seems to include 
- a dedicated focal point for a profession
- the definitive reference for standards and qualifications in the field
- a source of professional [vs.academic] materials 
- a mouthpiece for the profession's PR
- a focal location for accessing leading professionals 
. and probably others. 
System Dynamics may raise a few unique issues. First, the method is
widely applicable across many fields, rather than being purely business
focused [BSC] or investment focused [CFA]. Other rapidly successful
concept-initiatives also feature a quite narrow focus, e.g. six sigma
and value-based management  [I don't know about institutes outside the
business arena]. An SD-Institute would somehow have to straddle general
education and standards both in the approach and in a diverse range of
application areas.
Secondly, SD poses very demanding intellectual challenges in attaining
high level professional achievement to which only a small minority could
ever aspire, perhaps exemplifed by the PhDs from MIT, Bergen, Mannheim
etc.. Building a much larger and stronger professional community than
exists today may require a more graduated scale, perhaps akin to the
'belt' system in six sigma. 
I don't know much about exactly how such institutes function, or what
would be required to create a System Dynamics Institute - probably quite
some cash, plus the commitment of key professionals and consulting firms
in the field - but it seems an option worth considering for 'the next 50
years'. SD is too important and its contribution too valuable to wait
that long to multiply its influence.
 
 
Kim Warren
Posted by  "Kim Warren" <Kim at strategydynamics.com>
posting date  Mon, 3 Sep 2007 10:29:15 +0100