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Systems Thinking Puzzler:
The Rise and Fall of Howard Dean
by Chris Soderquist
Mar - Apr Puzzler Challenge
The rise and fall of Howard Dean in the Democratic Primary is etched in our
collective memory. You've been hired by a future political candidate to help
her and her staff understand how it's possible for someone to generate a
commanding early lead in a primary race and then lose that lead almost as
rapidly. You just received the call and must meet with them in a couple hours.
How might you use your Systems Thinking skills to help her think about what
happened to Howard -- and what she can do to prevent it from happening to her?
Good luck!
Jan - Feb Puzzler Solution
Note:
You must own iThink/STELLA 8 to view
the January - February Puzzler Solution:
Download January - February Puzzler Solution -
Windows Macintosh
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| About this
Feature
A distinguishing characteristic of
highly-skilled systems thinkers is their ability to quickly get to the heart of
an issue, problem, or process. Perhaps you've seen it in action, or perhaps
you've experienced it yourself. Skilled users of the thinking skills, language
and toolset typically are very good at focusing problems, at posing good
questions, at untangling complexities, and at generating high-leverage
insights.
Just as you can get stronger by exercising, you can improve your ability to do
systems thinking by practicing. This feature is a practice field for developing
that capability. Each month, we'll present you with a puzzle-a real-world case
that can benefit from the application of systems thinking. We'll ask you to
spend a couple of hours (maximum) to work through the case, capturing the
essence of the issue. In the next month's issue, we'll provide you with one
approach to the solution of the puzzle. So each puzzle gives you two chances to
learn-first, as you work the puzzle, and again as you compare your approach to
ours.
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