Thinking in Systems, Learning Through Models

Overview

How can we better understand and improve the world around us?

This question has guided Professor Tako on her journey as an Operational Researcher. In this lecture, Professor Tako reflects on more than twenty years of exploring how models can help us understand complex problems and find better ways to address them. Her research has evolved from comparing different types of models to developing approaches that place people at the heart of modelling, recognising that the people closest to a problem often understand it best.

Drawing on examples from healthcare, emergency services, global health, supply chains, sustainability and the circular economy, Professor Tako shows how models can help us see connections that are not always obvious, question assumptions and learn from different perspectives. From improving patient care and ambulance services, to reducing the environmental impact of medical devices and exploring ways to improve gender equity in the Operational Research profession itself, these examples show how systems thinking can help identify opportunities for change and support positive outcomes.

Looking ahead, Professor Tako considers the opportunities and challenges facing Operational Research in a world of artificial intelligence, growing amounts of data and increasing complexity. She argues that the future lies in combining advances in modelling with human-centred and interdisciplinary approaches that bring together data, expertise and lived experience. In doing so, models can help us better understand complex challenges, identify opportunities for improvement, and support positive change.

Ultimately, Professor Tako argues that models are lenses through which we can see the world more clearly, think more deeply about the challenges we face, and discover new ways of understanding and improving the world around us.

Biography

Antuela Tako is Professor of Operations Research and Director of the Sustainable Operations and Analytics Research (SOAR) Lab at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University. Her research uses models and systems thinking to support better decision-making and help organisations improve services and outcomes. Her work spans healthcare, global health, sustainability, the circular economy and supply chains. Her research has been supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the NHS, and local government organisations.

Antuela is co-founder of the PartiSim approach to participatory simulation modelling. Her research has received national and international recognition, including the Operational Research Society's President's Medal (2021) for the impact of the impact of her research in improving community health and social care services for older and vulnerable people, and the Dana Meadows Award from the International System Dynamics Society.

She has published extensively in leading Operational Research journals and has considerable editorial experience within the field. Antuela currently serves as Joint Editor-in-Chief of Health Systems and is a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College.

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