In the mid 70s I was responsible for 1) establishing store-front info
retrieval services, using teletype access to a time-sharing system in
Vancouver, a clone of the Community Memory service in San Francisco at the
same time, this work led to establishing a bulleting board service for
Community Services in Vancouver, and 2) developing what may have been the
1st VIMs (Visual Interactive Modeller) one a Queuing Network Animation
system with a graphically interactive build phase, and the 2nd a
completely visually programmed modeller for continuous systems which
generated executable CSMP code, compiled and run (basically the same
functionality as iThink).
Since 1989 in Adelaide Australia, we have been continuously developing in
the object-oriented C++ language a highly interactive, completely visually
modelled discrete simulation system called SimView. We have since
successfully commercialized it in Australia with a company called
InterDynamics. Moreover, we have successly built a strong consulting
business and consulting network with SimView as the base platform. We
supply a lot of tailor-made Decision Support Instruments using a
well-honed model as its core. Our methodology invites a lot of buy-in
from corporate executives with our Whole Systems approach, and our
emphasis upon wholistic performance measurements which incorporate an
innovation called event-based financial dynamics.
The high degree of visualization thru animation and our concept of
productive flows, often has immediate "learning" benefits for our clients
who begin to see the Big Picture, and understand feedback loops, and see
how interactions in one part of the production flow can affect processes
much further downstream. But the crucial ingredient, is how all of this
gets translated into performance measurements, typically financial.
We are in basic alignment with Senge's work and Goldratt's work (I am a
trained Jonah) and Stafford Beer's early work, although I would say that
our emphasis is on wholeness and corporate health, AND most importantly on
accounting for Discrete Chaos. In fact, it is the latter which really
differentiates our methods from iThink modelling and Senge's emphasis.
Our motto is "Evoking Systems Wisdom" which is our claim to be promoting
learning organizations, and we take each individual corporate culture on
its face value.
InterDynamics itself is nucleus network of four owner/directors who use an
internal BBS for our business communications and for comms with our
growing network of Associates in Australia and Sweden. I live in Geneva
while working electronically in Australia. We also have a network of
Associates who embrace our methodology and software.
Personally, in addition to the software design work and development of our
systems methodologies, I do research in complex systems (the evolution of
random networks), and I am a long-time believer in the autopoiesis concept
of Maturana and Varela. I also have a small therapy practice in Geneva
where I supervise other therapists. This has proven useful for the strong
analogy we use between the health of organizations and the healthy
individual in the world.
My questions centre around the difficulties which we sometimes face in
corporate cultures in adopting a learning-whole systems approach to
modelling and working with their organization, achieving alignment
throughout the organization, because our methods implicitly challenge many
entrenched corporate positions. My other major questions are around
describing and coping with organizational complexity.
I am looking forward to many interesting exchanges with this group.
Doug Seeley: CompuServe..100433,133 Fax: +41 22 756 3957 Geneva,
Switzerland
Whole Systems Understanding, autopoiesis, designer of Simulation and DSS
software.