Patricia Winand, SF ’13, Senior VP of Sales & Marketing, Americas at Close the Loop, first started ruminating about loops when she studied system dynamics (SD) as an MIT Sloan Fellow. “For me, SD was love at first sight because I am a very spatial person, and my brain responds best to visual stimuli. The graphic explanation of a complex problem makes it so clear.”
The beauty of system dynamics, Winand says, is that it is a wise combination of simplicity and analytical power. But although she enjoyed learning the technique, she wasn’t sure she knew how she might use the tool in the real world. “The professor who taught the course was a master at the subject, but my million-dollar question was: how can a mere mortal do it?”
After graduation, Winand realized that, indeed, system dynamics could be second nature. She found that the course had changed her mindset and that she was using SD automatically when analyzing problems and identifying their root causes. Then she joined an Australian-based company called Close The Loop (CtL), which seemed like kismet, given that it was all about loops—in this case, the recycling loop. CtL turns used printer cartridges into other products.