Soft Systems Methodology in Action

Thirty years ago Peter Checkland set out to test whether the Systems Engineering (SE) approach, highly successful in technical problems, could be used by managers coping with the unfolding complexities of organizational life.

The straightforward transfer of SE to the broader situations of management was not possible, but by insisting on a combination of systems thinking strongly linked to real-world practice Checkland and his collaborators developed an alternative approach - Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) - which enables managers of all kinds and at any level to deal with the subtleties and confusions of the situations they face.

This work established the now accepted distinction between 'hard' systems thinking, in which parts of the world are taken to be 'systems' which can be 'engineered', and 'soft' systems thinking in which the focus is on making sure the process of inquiry into real-world complexity is itself a system for learning.

Systems Thinking, Systems Practice (1981) and Soft Systems Methodology in Action (1990) together with an earlier paper Towards a Systems-based Methodology for Real-World Problem Solving (1972) have long been recognized as classics in the field. Now-Peter Checkland has looked back over the three decades of SSM development, brought the account of it up to date, and reflected on the whole evolutionary process which has produced a mature SSM.

SSM: A 30-Year Retrospective, here included with Soft Systems Methodology in Action closes a chapter on what is undoubtedly the most significant single research programme on the use of systems ideas in problem solving.

Now retired from full-time university work, Peter Checkland continues his research as a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow.

Soft Systems Methodology: a 30-year retrospective

• Preface
• Introductiuon
• The Emergence of Soft Systems Thinking
  • The Starting Position
  • The Learning Experience
  • Four Key Thoughts
  • Hard and Soft Systems Thinking
• Soft Systems Methodology — the Whole
  • 1972—Blocks and Arrows
  • 1981—Seven Stages
  • 1988—Two Streams
  • 1990—Four Main Activities
• Soft System Methodology — the Parts
  • Finding Out about a Problem Situation
  • Building Purposeful Activity Models
  • Exploring the Situation and Taking Action
• Soft System Methdology — the Whole Revisited
  • Methodology and Method: the LUMAS Model
  • SSM's Constitutive Rules
  • Prescriptive and Internalized SSM: Mode 1 and Mode 2
• Soft Systems Methodology — the Context
  • Action Research
  • The Social Process: Appreciative Systems
• Conclusion
• Appendix: Systems Theory and Management Thinking

Soft Systems Methodology in Action

• Chapter 1: Soft Systems Methodology and Action
  • Introduction
  • Organized Purposeful Action
  • The Basic Shape of SSM
  • The Structure of this Book
• Part I: Soft Systems Methodology and its Application in Different Contexts
  
  • Chapter 2: The Developed Form of Soft Systems Methdology
    • Introduction
    • The Emergence of SSM
      • Context
      • Systems Engineering and its Breakdown
    • The Nature of Systems Thinking
      • Systematic and Systemic
      • Systems Thinking: Thinking with Holons
      • Purposeful Holons: Human Activity Systems
    • The Enquiring Process which is SSM
      • The Process Overall
      • The Stream of Logic-based Enquiry
        • Selecting Relevant Systems
        • Naming Relevant Systems
        • Modelling Relevant Systems
        • Comparing Models with Perceived Reality
      • The Stream of Cultural Enquiry
        • Rich Pictures
        • Analysis of the Intervention
        • 'Social System' Analysis
        • 'Political System' Analysis
        • Making Desirable and Feasible Changes
    • SSM in the Creation of Information Systems
      • Information Systems in Theory and Practice
      • From Worldviews and Meanings to Data Manipulations
      • Conclusion
  • Chapter 3: An Application of Soft Systems Methdology in Industry
    • Introduction
    • The Nature of the Study
    • The First Methodological Cycle: Relevant Systems through Modelling
    • The Second Methodological Cycle: Forming New Perspectives
    • The Third Methodological Cycle: From 'Whats'' to 'Hows'
    • The Fourth Methodological Cycle: Widening the Debate, Taking Action
    • Conclusion: Towards 'a System to Use SSM'
  • Appendix: The ILSD Project; A More Radical View
  • Chapter 4: An Application of Soft Systems Methdology in the National Health Service
    • Introduction
    • Context—General: the NHS
    • Context—General: Community Medicine
    • Context—Specific: the East Berkshire Study
    • Finding Out and Methodology of the Study
    • Modelling and Exemplification
    • Outcomes
  • Appendix 1: Analysis One, Two and Three
  • Appendix 2: Evaluating a Health Care Project in Community Medicine — a usable tool
  • Chapter 5: An Application of Soft Systems Methdology in the Civil Service
    • The Central Computer and Telecommunication Agency
    • Background to the Study
    • Finding Out: Stages 1 and 2
    • Conceptualizing: Stages 3 and 4
    • Comparing and Recommending Changes: Stages 5 and 6
    • Outcomes
    • Conclusion
• Part II: Soft Systems Methdology in Action — Learning through Use
  • Chapter 6: Two Studies in a Product Marketing Division
    • Networked Product Line Sector
      • Context
      • Exploring and Expressing the Problem Situation
      • Choosing Relevant Systems
      • Building Conceptual Models
      • Comparing Models with Reality and Implementing Changes
    • What Decision Support Systems Could Do — A Contribution from Systems Thinking
      • Context
      • Exploring the Problem Situation
      • Choosing Relevant Systems and Modelling
      • Comparing Models with Real Possibilities
      • Identifying Outcomes
  • Chapter 7: Soft Systems Methdology in an Organizational Change Programme
    • Using SSM to Help Define, Plan and Manage the 'ICL Way' Programme
      • Context
      • Appreciating the Problem Situation
      • Agreeing the Approach
      • Implementation
    • A Study of the Management Support Systems Sector at PMD
      • Context
      • Appreciating the Problem Situation
      • Choosing Relevant Systems and Building Models
      • Comparing Models with Reality
      • Outcomes
    • A Systems Study of PMD
      • Defining the Field of Study, Deciding the 'Givens'
      • Building a Picture of the Problem Situation, Naming Relevant Systems
      • Comparing Models with Reality, Defining Feasible and Desirable Changes
      • Outcomes
  • Chapter 8: The Use of Soft Systems Methdology in the Establishment of a 'Business Centre' Organization
    • Introduction
    • Section 1: 'Core' Headquarters Functions
      • Context
      • Using SSM to Define 'Core' HQ Functions
      • Outcomes
    • Section 2: The Work of the Business Centre Organization Team (BCOT)
      • Context
      • The Work of the Team (BCOT)
      • Use of SSM in Planning the Work of BCOT
      • Use of SSM in Doing Parts of the Work
      • Use of SSM in Structuring the Thinking
      • Conclusion
  • Chapter 9: Contemporary Soft Systems Methdology in Action: Rethinking a Service Function in the Shell Group
    • Introduction
    • Context
    • The Preliminary MF Mission Statement
    • General Workshop 1
    • General Workshop 2
    • The Three Management Workshops
      • Management Workshop 1
      • Management Workshop 2
      • Management Workshop 3
    • Outcomes
• Part III: Learning from Real-World Research
  
  • Chapter 10: Gathering and Learning the Lessons
    • Introduction
    • The Experiences Revisited
      • Information and Library Services in ICI Organics
      • A Study in a Community Medicine Department in a Health Authority
      • A Study in a Government Agency (CCTA)
      • The Studies in ICL
      • Reorientation of the Manufacturing Function in Shell
    • SSM in 'Highlighted Studies' and in 'Managing': Mode 1 and Mode 2
    • A Constructive Definition of SSM
    • The System to Use SSM
    • Conclusions
  • Appendix: Information Systems and Systems Thinking: Time to Unite?
    

This is one of the books you question why you have to read it? Then you probably skip it, unless you (like me) are forced to read it by demands of an MBA course (or something alike).

When you read it, and starts to understand it, you usually starts to wonder why anyone hasn't told you this before! OK, CATWOE may not be the answer to all prayers out there, but it is important to understand, and the authors make it worth your while to get through this book. You will be changed after having read (and Groked) it.

The caveat is that you will probably need some experience or knowledge of business analysis before appreciating this book.

In short: worthwhile.