The UK's Operational Research Society has published "When spreadsheets go bad" in the October issue of their OR Insight magazine. … [Read more...]

This week The Economist published an article ("This spreadsheet is different", 21 September 2013) apologizing for a earlier article that was based on erroneous analysis. The problem was caused by a spreadsheet model that ...pulled data [...] from the wrong place in the spreadsheet, changing the results. We've written about the problems with spreadsheets before. They are opaque, brittle and … [Read more...]

Confrontation analysis provides a framework for understanding complex interactions. Its formality brings structure to the unstructured. Over the past week I've been using it to think about the Syrian crisis---i.e. the US' intention to bomb Syria in response to Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons. One thing stands out from this casual analysis---where's the confrontation? The US isn't … [Read more...]

Here's a question for you: How many animals of each kind did Moses take into the ark? Most people have no problem in answering "Two." Of course, Moses didn't take any animals into the ark---Noah did. Your brain is good at filling in gaps in information. Yu cn prbly red ths sntce evn tho it mssng al srts of lttrs. However, sometimes your brain is too good and leads you astray. In most of our … [Read more...]

Andrew Tait recently presented confrontation analysis to an audience of Latin American politicians at the "Liderazgo y Gobernanza" (Leadership and Government) conference hosted by George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management in Washington, DC. … [Read more...]