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Systems Thinking Puzzler:
Britney Spears: "System as Cause"
by Chris Soderquist
Sep - Oct Puzzler Challenge
This month's Puzzler comes straight from the front pages of many national
newspapers and websites. And it may seem surprising (or at least incriminating
of our culture) that such a story is found there! Britney Spears is yet again
in the news for getting married. If you're like me, you find such mass hysteria
regarding celebrities' personal lives somewhat amusing - and somewhat
troubling. What does it say about society's values and where we focus our
energies? But alas, I digress!
One way to describe why Britney is in the news so often (for smoking, late
night partying, getting married twice, etc...) is to blame the public's
preoccupation with fame and celebrities. You could also develop a "system as
cause" mental model - where Britney (and her PR team) is
the system - that says Britney does many of her publicity-spawning activities
in order to be in the tabloids. That may seem like a conspiracy theory to some
of you, but see if you can frame it as at least a semi-conscious choice on her
part. If so, can you develop a very simple (just a few stocks) model that can
explain why Britney is so often in the news? And further, can you describe some
unintended consequences associated with doing so?
Look for one solution in the next issue of The Connector!
Jul - Aug Puzzler Solution
Note:
You must own iThink/STELLA 8 to view
the Jul - Aug Puzzler Solution:
Download Jul - Aug 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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