The Concept of Fitness for Purpose

For people who have had little experience in using modelling and simulation as a quantitative analysis tool, there is a very important and fundamental concept to get right.  The term "fit for purpose" basically means model / simulation suitability. That is suitability in relation to the problem posed and suitability that matches the expectations of the problem owners.   It is important to understand from the outset, that ALL MODELS ARE WRONG, but SOME MODELS ARE USEFUL.  A model is always a simplified abstraction of some underlying system.  The balancing act is to design a model that is sufficiently detailed to answer the proposed questions, but isn't so complicated as to confound the very people you're trying to assist.  Equally important, the model needs to be complicated enough such that its treatment of real world processes and its underlying assumptions aren't so simple that the model amounts to little more than a rubbery guess.

Decision Logic has long, hard won experience in consistently getting this balance right.  It is at the core of our processes.  Everything we do is aimed at four core aspirations for our solutions:

1. Producing a solution that is fit for purpose
2. Making our solutions as elegant and easy to follow as possible
3. Ensuring our solutions are robust enough to change with the discovery of insights along the way
4. Achieving an outcome for our clients that is worth significantly more than the cost of producing it