John Sterman (Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management and Professor of System Dynamics) and Bobby Milstein (MIT Sloan Visiting Scientist; ReThink Health and Rippel Foundation), along with the rest of the team behind the nonprofit ReThink Health initiative, have won the 2023 System Dynamics Applications Award from the System Dynamics Society. This honor recognizes the best real-world application of System Dynamics, based primarily on demonstrated measurable benefit through the use of System Dynamics within the past decade.
ReThink Health, an initiative of the Rippel Foundation, works "with national and regional stewards to discover what it takes to design and execute transformative change and produce better health and well-being for all.” ReThink Health uses system dynamics models and interactive management flight simulators to enable community leaders at all scales and from every part of society to design high-leverage policies that can help all people thrive, beginning with those who are struggling and suffering. The broad application impact spanning health care, philanthropy, government, business, and academia has ranged from local (e.g., 18 initiatives launched involving over 2,500 individuals to enhance health and well-being across Atlanta) to national (e.g., 52 federal agencies collaborating on long-term plans for equitable recovery and resilience).
The winning team, many of whom have strong MIT Sloan connections (degrees listed are for MIT Sloan alumni who studied system dynamics), consists of Milstein, Sterman, Jack Homer (Homer Consulting; PhD ’83), Gary Hirsch (independent consultant; SB ’69 & SM ’71), Dr. Elliott Fisher (Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine), Rebecca Niles (Iceberg Partners, SB ’93 & MBA ’93), Kris Wile (Systems Thinking Collaborative, SM ’94), and Chris Soderquist (Pontifex Consulting).
The award was announced at the 2023 International System Dynamics Conference (annual conference of the System Dynamics Society) in late July in Chicago. A photo is online at the conference awards blog post, and the award presentation video contains more details in remarks and a slide presentation about the winning work and the many contributions and extensive real-world impact of ReThink Health. A transcript is also available at the video page.