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Robert N. Phillips
CEO, Lasotell Pty Ltd.
www.lasotell.com.au
Part
One |
Part
Two |
Part
Three |
Part
Four
In this final article, I look at the "what is in it for me"
perspective to encourage you to study and apply Soft Systems
Methodology (SSM) in the day-to-day workplace (and in life
in general).
The important messages from the previous SSM articles in
this series are
- Each person's interpretation of the world and his or her
internal model of how things work are based on the sum of
that person's experiences.
- Through common use, the word system has become seriously
deficient for identifying what is supposed to be a whole,
stand-alone entity.
- A new term, holon, is defined as a whole entity that has a
layered/hierarchical structure that yields emergent
properties at each layer and is supported by communication
and control components that allow it to adapt
appropriately to changes in the environment.
- Holons of sets of purposeful human activities are created
for comparison with a perceived problem situation to learn
about that situation and to derive a list of desirable and
feasible changes for modifying the real-world situation.
Dealing effectively with messy, real-world problems requires
- embracing multi-factorial problems (meaning, there are so
many contributing factors that mentally embracing the
whole scope of the situation is very difficult and
sometimes impossible)
- thinking on several levels at a time
- negating our habit of creating imperfect and imprecise
internal models of how things work
- dealing with the human element; the really messy bit
Here is an interesting reality check: If messy problems
involve human beings, are information systems about
machine-based or human-based systems? Peter Checkland (Wiley
2000) argues for the latter because machines merely produce
data but human beings assign meaning to the data, converting
it into information. For example, a clock tells you the
time, but only you decide if there is time for coffee.
SSM addresses the above requirements because, fundamentally,
it is the study of the thought and decision-making processes
and their application to messy, real-world problem
situations. SSM shows you how to embrace the whole problem
situation, which makes the methodology truly systemic, and
to systematically investigate (elucidate, think about, and
propose) changes for the real-world situation.
SSM shows you how to address the scope of a problem
situation by appreciating and managing the always greater
number of factors present in human- versus machine-based
systems. The greatest number of factors arises from the
individuals in the problem situation because they each have
their own internal model of how the system works, as well as
clear-cut views of what does or does not work. Making
successful change in human-based systems demands taking all
these factors into account. The systematic approach allows
you to address these factors initially as independent
categories. Analysis one, two, and three and interviewing as
many people as is sensible are ways of embracing the
majority of these factors. Ultimately, these categories are
brought together in the choice of changes (including, no
change) to be made in the real-world situation.
SSM's detailed analysis of the problem situation shows you
how to think on several levels. There is the level on which
the system is located, the level above the system (the wider
system), and the level below the system (the sub-system).
But at the core of the methodology, there are other
levels—the level of the perceived problem and the level of
the ideal, proper systems (the holons). Because the
methodology requires an iterative cycle of definition,
comparison, and construction, you must keep moving between
the holon and the real-world levels. (A trap for neophytes
is to forget that the holon is an ideal system. The holon is
not a model of a solution for the real-world problem because
it contains too many desirable, but not feasible, changes,
given the typical time frame of problem-driven
investigations.)
SSM's primary synthesis activity shows you how to identify
proper systems (holons) so that you can find ideal systems
that are potentially relevant to the problem situation and
the real world. Those systems are subsequently expressed
using root definitions supported by rich pictures
illustrating the working relationships between the
activities in the holon. The initial list is derived from
the interview activity, but it is also developed in
co-operation with the interested parties (including the
client, problem solver, and problem owners). These
co-operative activities (culminating in agreement as to the
relevance of the systems and producing the definitions and
rich pictures) encourage all parties to adopt a common
reference point for comparison with the real world.
(Remember this: Although the holon has become everybody's
internal reference model, the holon is not the real word
system.)
Perhaps the most important "what is in it for me" message is
that while SSM works well in a group situation, it works
just as well for solving the perceived, messy situations
that are present in your every day life, inside and outside
the office. For example, you can use it for optimising the
information-development process in your office or extending
the PTA activities to embrace vacation-based remedial
coaching. However, because SSM is a methodology, rather than
a method, the best results are achieved in both situations
when the person(s) using the methodology have internalized
it; the workings of the methodology, its tools, and its
mechanisms have become second nature and are applied
semi-automatically whenever a messy problem situation
appears. When working with such an internalised version, you
are free to apply the parts of the methodology that make
sense in a given situation.
For example, a rich picture may not be needed for every root
definition, because the make up of the rich picture is
immediately and intuitively obvious to the people concerned
and drawing it is either redundant, overkill, or both.
Similarly, not every root definition needs fully itemised
CATWOE components—customers, actors, transformation,
worldview, owner, and environment. In other words, people
who are intimately familiar with the methodology can cut
corners on their way through, because they know which
corners they are cutting, the implications of making those
cuts, and which cut corners eventually need to be revisited
to ensure the overall rigour has not been compromised.
Caution: The single biggest risk of cutting corners is that
a range of implicit assumptions are automatically made
concerning the uninvestigated parts of the corners. The
single biggest mistake is making decisions on the even
bigger assumption that the implicit assumptions are facts! A
simple, literal example: The habit of cutting corners when
driving along lonely country roads. The implicit assumption
is that nothing is coming because you have not seen anything
in the distance and the assumed fact is that the road is
clear. Eventually, those assumptions lead to a life-changing
experience when one day there are several large kangaroos
reclining comfortably on the road, just around the corner.
Been there; done that!
All experienced writers are familiar with internalising a
methodology—they use it every time they give an initial
estimate for a writing project. For a person who has
internalised the Managing Your Documentation Projects
methodology by JoAnn Hackos (Wiley 1994), identifying and
estimating the key components of any job is very easy. But
in making those initial estimates, such people also
intuitively know which estimates will need detailed
consideration before signing any contract.
How do you know that an SSM approach is the right way to go
or that it has been successful? You don't. SSM is a
methodology, not a method, and definitely not a technique.
What you must decide for any given problem situation is
whether a rigorous and coherent approach will be of more use
than whatever alternative approaches are available,
including doing nothing.
References
Soft Systems Methodology in Action
Peter Checkland and Jim Scholes
2000, New York, NY
John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0471986054
Managing Your Documentation Projects
JoAnn T. Hackos
1994, New York, NY
John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0471590991
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