REPLY Society Strategy Development (SD7101)

[SDMAIL Kim Warren]

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

thanks Bill - seems like two level answers to this question. 

If we regard the members of the community as the customers for this
study, then that is exactly what we are doing by asking them [you] to
tell us of their aspirations. 

If we regard the community's clients as the customers, then it's going
to be a bit tougher. As Professor Forrester noted, SD's penetration 'out
there' is very thin, so it's hard to ask people what they want about a
product they never heard of and certainly don't understand. I guess we
are anticipating that the community - in saying where they want to go -
are implicitly reflecting what they think their prospective clients
want. ... but you identify the weakness with that in your post. 

What evidence might we make use of in the absence of a global survey of
potential clients? Two suggestions - first, we might seek input from
those who have been successful in sustaining client interest in SD what
it is that has kept their clients hooked. Secondly, we might ask those
who have suffered loss of clients, what they think [or even know] was
the reason for that loss. 

I could make a start from my limited experience ... 

1. Why people have stayed engaged ... perhaps splits into three levels.
For the smallest cases, where a very small model or even a
non-simulating framework has helped them, they seem to stay because it
offered a very quick and simple picture of their problem that enabled
them to make immediate and valuable better choices or decisions. For
mid-scale projects, they stay because the method gives real financial
value for a not-excessive input of time and money. For large-scale and
costly projects, they [usually only very large organisations] stay
because the value is so great it justifies the considerable investment
needed to have very detailed research and modeling carried out. 
.. and a special case - some stay for mid- and large-scale work because
they are left with a framework or model that they can continually update
and use as routine management-of-things tool.

2. Why people have left ... again split by these levels. For the
smallest cases, they leave because they have a one-off problem and can't
see more uses, even if plenty exist - or they leave because they just
can't see how they would ever get the same insights on their own. For
mid-level cases, some leave because they don't have even the basic data
needed to crack the problem so go away saying 'it doesn't work'. For
large-scale cases, some seem to leave because the huge investment of
time and effort is either unaffordable, unrepeatable, or just takes so
long that the problem has gone away or changed by the time they get the
answer. 
.. and some in all cases seem to leave because it was only a one-off
challenge, and they are left with noting to continue with. 
[I'm guilty of failing to persevere and try to crack each of these
issues, so confess to having much less success than I would have liked.]

There are many, many great professionals out there with experience of
hitting what clients want, so it would be great to hear from some of
them.

But we do need to keep focused on the task at hand - finding out where
we want to go, so we stand a chance of working out how to get there.

reply to "Jack Harich"

 
Loose goals - as per the many celebrated examples of 'Mission' and
'Vision' statements that fill the popular management books - certainly
have a role, and your other post today suggests at least one that has
the added advantage of addressing what success would look like from the
customers's viewpoint.
Loose goals help people feel engaged, but don't tell them what needs to
be done, so both are needed, and as you point out, circumstances change,
so both specific and loose goals may need to be changed. 
Let me lastly clarify the purpose of the working group meeting before
the Athens conference - it is not to impose goals for the field or pick
and choose those it likes or dislikes. Its purpose is to start
assembling a strategy for delivering what the wider community wants to
achieve. I still hope that before then we will have a lot more folk, at
all levels of experience and expertise in SD, tell us of their
aspirations for the field.
Kim  

Posted by  "Kim Warren" <Kim at strategydynamics.com>
posting date  Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:11:09 +0100