Raise prices when inventories are low, and lower prices when inventories are high. Such a policy gives rise to a continuing stream of actions in the company and is quite comparable to a gene, which produces a continuing stream of actions in the cell. The creative mechanisms in biological evolution are mutation and recombination. In our analogy, genetic mutation corresponds to policy change, intentional or unintentional. The result of such a change, for better or worse, is a new policy.
Genetic recombination occurs when two DNA molecules mix to form a new DNA molecule.
The simulations allow us to speed up evolution so that we can investigate what makes it better. The interviews with people at partner organizations keeps us grounded in reality. We anticipate talking to somewhere between three and ten people at each of the partner organizations. The interviews will help us understand evolution in organizations better and will also allow us to create more useful simulations.