Model Is a Verb

Abstract

This chapter is an update of a 2011 Winter Simulation Conference Titans speech with the same title. That talk fortunately was not recorded and never appeared in print. However, it provoked numerous discussions ranging from good-natured ridicule to thoughtful debate. The proposition of that talk and this chapter is that the process of simulation modeling can be as valuable as the resulting computer model itself. A focus on modeling, the verb, has practical consequences on the way we conduct and what we expect from simulation projects. This affects how we teach, practice, and conduct research on simulation.