---
title: "Questions for testing the value of a model"
description: "Three questions to judge a scenario or model before trusting it."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/thinking-in-systems/questions-for-testing-the-value-of-a-model/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Questions for testing the value of a model

> Three questions to judge a scenario or model before trusting it.

Donella Meadows's framework, from Thinking in Systems, pp. 23 to 92.

Framework 2 of 7 from [Thinking in Systems](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/thinking-in-systems/index.md) by Donella Meadows. Category: Systems and operations.

## The steps

1. **Are the driving factors likely to unfold this way?.** A guess about the future that cannot be proved.
2. **If they did, would the system react this way?.** Test whether the model captures the system's inherent dynamics.
3. **What is driving the driving factors?.** Check whether the drivers are themselves inside the system.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: Part One: System Structure and Behavior, pp. 23–92

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/thinking-in-systems/questions-for-testing-the-value-of-a-model.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/thinking-in-systems/questions-for-testing-the-value-of-a-model-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/thinking-in-systems/questions-for-testing-the-value-of-a-model.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/thinking-in-systems/questions-for-testing-the-value-of-a-model-dark.png