FAQ+-+What+is+systems+dynamics?

Systems dynamics is a methodology and set of tools for framing and understanding complex issues and problems. Originally developed in the 1950s to help business leaders better understand corporate problems like employment stability, systems dynamics is now being used across sectors for policy analysis and design.

Whereas social network analysis looks at how “nodes” (e.g., people, organizations, ideas) are connected, systems dynamics looks at the complex external environments in which networks are embedded and how the elements that make up a system interrelate. Systems dynamics is an important source of tools for understanding networks, like systems diagramming.