Soft systems
From Freepedia
Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is an approach to organisational modelling and it can be used both for general problem solving and in the management of change. Developed in England by Peter Checkland, its primary use is in the analysis of complex situations (e.g. How to improve the National Health Service? How to manage disaster planning? When should mentally disordered offenders be diverted from custody? What to do about homelessness among young people?) where even the actual problem to be addressed may not be easy to classify. It is now considered part of Critical Systems Thinking (CST), and the movement is led by Gerald Midgley and his team at the Centre for Systems Studies, University of Hull Business School.
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The CST approach
CST is a reaction against the work of the early systems theorists (e.g. Ludwig von Bertalanffy developed General Systems Theory which was intended as a valid methodology for all sciences) who described biological systems in physical terms. Because they were able to identify isomorphisms between living organisms, cybernetic machines, and social systems, they believed it justifiable to create interdisciplinary models and transfer the data from one scientific realm to another. This is a hard systems approach, i.e. it asserts that all things can be measured and so may be analysed by applying the standard quantitative methods and tools. This school still has its advocates (e.g. in the Journal of the Operational Research Society) and it is applied to production engineering and other areas of process-based management.
The soft systems approach uses social metaphors to build an interpretative understanding of human systems, where meaning is central. This applies both the critical theory of Jürgen Habermas, particularly in relation to his theories of knowledge and communicative rationality, and the work of Michel Foucault on the nature of power. The intention is to create a metamethodology that will identify the key elements in the problem to be solved and then decide which of the available methodologies should be applied to those elements. It sees the current crop of methodologies, their underpinning philosophies, and their embedded methods as being a set of tools. It accepts that many of these methodologies may be based on incompatible philosophical assumptions about the nature of social reality, knowledge, action, etc., but denies that this should restrict access to the broadest possible repertoire of methods. It adopts the rational and practical view that the problem solver should always use the best tool for each part of the job.
The metamethodology
A complex system will usually have interconnected parts arranged in a hierarchy that has feedback loops through which both internal and external performance can be monitored. If the system is an organisation, what constitutes its reality and forms the basis for action will be socially negotiated.
A common problem in many organisations is that most people in the organisation do not have free access to the monitoring/reporting system and the decision-making processes it drives. This means that, whenever the organisation is to decide "what is to be done", there is a division between those elements that are going to be considered and those that are not, and, more seriously, between those who are involved and those who are affected (or between those who will benefit and those who are likely to suffer). Hence, not only will the majority feel alienated because they are on the wrong side of the fence, but also their values are less likely to inform the negotation that determines the organisation's actions.
CST asserts that all boundaries affecting what and who to consider or involve are contestable, and should be contested. The intention is to make decision-making more explicit and transparent. The CST researcher does this by directly asking for input from the people whose voices are not normally heard. These inputs are captured in rich pictures which are used to express the actors' opinions about what is relevant and significant to the organisation's decision-making.
In turn, this leads to a root definition — a conceptual model that encapsulates the problem in a few phrases. One or more methodologies are then allocated to each element in the root definition. By taking account of the messy nature of the real world, SSM within the context of CST seeks to find solutions that are both "systematically desirable and culturally feasible", rather than the single optimal-but-unpalatable solution that might emerge from the hard systems approach.
Sources
- Checkland, P.B. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1981, 1998. ISBN 0471986062
- Flood R. L. & Jackson, M. C. Critical Systems Thinking: Directed Readings. John Wiley and Sons (NY). 1996. ISBN 0471930989
- Midgley, Gerald. Systemic Intervention - Philosophy, Methodology and Practice (Contemporary Systems Thinking). Klewer Academic/Plenum Publishing (NY). November 2000. ISBN 0306464888
- Midgley, G. & Ocha-Arias, A. Community Operational Research: OR and Systems Thinking for Community Development. Kluwer Academic (NY). 2004. ISBN 0306483351
See also
http://www.systemsthinkingpress.com/sys_bibliography/systemsbiblio.htm
