Qualitative System Dynamics (QSD) is an emerging approach to analyzing and understanding complex problems and issues, and for devloping robust strategies for dealing with complex problems and issues. This website will strive to accumulate and highlight the best thinking related to QSD - including both qualitative and quantitative methods. To do so suggests this website will be in perpetual development for insights relating system characteristics to their behaviour are flourishing.

The evolution of QSD has been slow as qualitative systems modellers resisted mental processes. But mental processes underlie vitually all modelling and perception shapes the content and bounding of models. Recognition of mental processes and human foibles is critical to apprecitating the power and potential value of QSD. Historically QSD has focused primarily on what Neil Smith has referred to as "structural cliches" to predict the behaviour of models and has argued for development of augmentations
to influence diagrams and for more rigorous forms of qualitative thinking. The purpose of this web site is to create a repository of current QSD insights and approaches for the purpose of stimulating further growth in this field, more rigorous methods and thinking, and provide more powerful thinking to recognize  and deal with the complex challenges facing our planet, nations, and people.

Recent problems and issues such as the housing crash and resulting recession, the slowing of growth in China, slow response to global warming, the blowout of a deep ocean well in the Gulf, and political polarization all exhibited characteristics that suggested they were somewhere between likely and inevitable. More sophisticated thinking at the national, corporate, organization, public, and personal levels is needed. 

Please check back for new material. Contributions and suggestions of pertinent material and feedback regarding the site will be most appreciated!

Thanks!
Jay Forrest

PS: This web site assumes readers are at least somewhat familiar with the terms and premises of system dynamics and terms such as stocks, flows, levels, rates, and causal loop diagrams. From a citation perspective this site will strive to give appropriate credit to major sources and authors but will be somewhat less rigorous with minor insights and authors to give more readibility.