The Systems Thinking Stack

From linear thinking to dynamic complexity, this sequence of five training simulations moves learners through feedback loops, delays, and unintended consequences across supply chains, resources, and platform markets.

Systems thinking
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Forio Stacks are a curated sequence of simulations that teach connected skills. 18 learning pathways span the disciplines that drive business today. Unlock the Stack from Forio's Ready-Made catalog that best aligns to your team's goals.

"Seeing students cheer each other on while playing the simulation confirmed we'd created something truly impactful with Forio."

Matt Lisle - Thrive Scholars

Managerial and Entrepreneurial Mindsets

The Babson College Mindset Game

Contrasts managerial thinking, which is linear and predictive, with entrepreneurial thinking, which is iterative and comfortable with uncertainty. Primes participants to abandon simple cause-and-effect assumptions in favor of the non-linear thinking that complex systems demand.

Learning Objectives: Entrepreneurial mindset, non-linear thinking, systems diagnosis, uncertainty tolerance.

Total Time: 90 min

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1

Supply Chain Management

The Beer Game

Experience the bullwhip effect firsthand as small ordering decisions ripple into major swings across a supply chain. Provides a visceral, hands-on foundation in how delays and limited information amplify instability, even in a simple system.

Learning Objectives: Bullwhip effect, supply chain dynamics, information delays, unintended consequences.

Total Time: 60 min

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2

Renewable Resource Management

Fishbanks

Manage a shared fishery in a multiplayer setting, competing for short-term catch while facing the long-term consequences of overuse. Shows how misreading feedback loops, like confusing stocks with flows, drives shared resources toward collapse.

Learning Objectives: Tragedy of the commons, resource dynamics, feedback loops, systems collapse.

Total Time: 90–180 min

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3

Strategic Innovation

Back Bay Battery

Balance R&D investment between a sustaining technology and a disruptive one over an eight-year horizon, timing the shift before the legacy business can no longer support it. Bridges into organizational systems complexity, requiring patience to navigate long-term market dynamics and disruptive threats.

Learning Objectives: R&D investment tradeoffs, disruptive innovation, long-term strategic timing.

Total Time: 60–75 min

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4

Strategic Marketing

Cloudstrat

Manage a company's migration from a legacy product model to a cloud-based one as Chief Strategy Officer, navigating network effects and platform dynamics. Serves as the systems thinking capstone, requiring a holistic view across pricing, R&D, cannibalization, and ecosystem growth where every decision feeds back into the next.

Learning Objectives: Platform strategy, network effects, digital transformation, systems capstone.

Total Time: 150–210 min

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5