Saturday 30 May 2009

Minimise time of intermediate result - recession

If A produces B, and B is harmful, one can start to ask questions about the situation to try to improve the situation. Questions that immediately come to mind include: is there a way to prevent A producing B, can the link between A and B be broken, can we minimize the impact of B, do we need A at all? In Southbeach 0.9, many new effects can be used to create patterns like this, patterns that represent solutions or problems. Here is an example:

The new effect is 'becomes' - a transformation. A question prompted by this model would be: find a way to shorten the time the harmful intermediate state exists, in order to avoid the consequences that might otherwise result. Using a topical example:

Otherwise, the recession may 'create' a depression.

We can add elements to this model to show the direction in which the problem solving is taking us. Here, we show the depression as a 'potential' risk (dotted line) and using a 'delay' to show there is a lag between the recession and possible depression. As that delay runs out, it becomes more and more important to get across the chasm to the new period of economic growth, i.e. to reduce the time the recession lasts:

We have also added actions to the model - illustrating the use of 'counteracts' and 'prevents'. And we could use the model to suggest even more solutions. Here - we try to head off the recession turning into a depression, and, try to accelerate the passing of the recession so there is less opportunity for it to turn into a downward spiral of depression:

Sunday 17 May 2009

Insufficient prevention leads to need for counteraction



Regulation cannot prevent financial crises altogether, but it can minimise the devastation. A common idiom in life, illustrated here using the banking crisis example. Note the use of 'insufficient prevents', a new effect in Southbeach 0.9.

'Prevents' is not the same as 'counteracts', since it occurs in advance. If you use the Southbeach Modeller, you'll see the synonyms for 'prevents' as prohibits, blocks, precludes, forestalls, annuls, stop, foils, holds at bay, overrides, disallows, vetoes, averts, avoids, nips in the bud, renders harmless ...

Saturday 16 May 2009

Think, Play, Do = Innovation



A simple view of 'Innovation', inspired by the company and book Think, Play, Do.

The company was founded by Professors David Gann (Imperial College) and Mark Dodgson (University of Queensland). Headed by Professor David Gann, the I&EG at Imperial College now boasts the largest academic group focussed on innovation and entrepreneurship management in Europe and is closely linked to top academics across the world. Think, Play, Do

Sunday 10 May 2009

What will you model in Southbeach 0.9?



Idioms are small models that illustrates key facets of a problem or situation. But where is the line drawn between a complete model and a small idioms? Take this model for example. It's clearly not a complete model, but it's larger, and more complex, than typical 3 block idioms. We call it a pattern. This pattern, while unusual, could occur in the real world. In fact it is drawn from the real world ... any guesses?

This model illustrates several of the new features in Southbeach 0.9.

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