Systems Thinking & Tools

The complexity of the social, biological and physical worlds often defies human intuition. Few people are prepared to work through the complexity within a discipline, much less through problems that transcend disciplines. Systems thinking is a set of approaches and modeling tools used to describe and simulate the interactions among components of complex systems. With these tools, systems thinking provides insights into the functioning of systems and solutions to today’s difficult problems. This workshop will introduce the vocabulary and skills to think about, unravel and build models of real-world problems … tools so powerful even Bart Simpson could understand Hamlet.

Participants will learn to fend off simplistic and static thinking with weapons as diverse as causal loop diagrams, stocks, flows, time lags and simple computer modeling. You will be aided in your individual and collective journeys to systems enlightenment by ping pong balls, shaving cream, and bathtubs ... all the while under the mindful guidance of the Dynamic(s) Duo: Jeffrey M. Bielicki, Ph.D., and Joey Reid (soon to be Ph.D.).

The next Systems Thinking and Tools short course will be taught on March 1 and 2 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Applications - Twin Cities

  • An application is required to participate in Boreas workshops. Applications for spring semester are closed. Check back this summer for applications for fall semester. In the meantime, check out other Boreas events.

Boreas Student Advisory Team

Boreas Leadership Certificate

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