One of the most difficult tasks system dynamicists have is presenting the key concepts of system dynamics to senior decision makers quickly. The paper presents three, very small, stock and flow models that were developed quickly and used in presentations to senior managers of New York State government agencies to show them the potential power of developing formal models to address key issues. The first model shows senior managers how their view of a program's performance could be inaccurate, and offers an alternative explanation that was not obvious prior to model development. The second model shows how a successful policy would appear to fail when measured using system stocks. The third model provides an example of how a small stock and flow model was used to obtain the confidence of an expert advisory group unfamiliar with the system dynamics methodology. These small models represent the beginning of what the authors hope is a growing number of small formal models that can be used to identify insights that highlight the power of system dynamics for those working in the public sector.
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