Soft systems methodology

Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is an approach to organisational process modelling and it can be used both for general problem solving and in the management of change. It was developed in England by academics at the University of Lancaster Systems Department through a ten year Action Research programme.

Methodology

The methodology was developed from earlier systems engineering approaches, primarily by Peter Checkland and colleagues such as Brian Wilson. The primary use of SSM is in the analysis of complex situations where there are divergent views about the definition of the problem — "soft problems" (e.g. How to improve health services delivery; How to manage disaster planning; When should mentally disordered offenders be diverted from custody? What to do about homelessness amongst young people?).

In such situations even the actual problem to be addressed may not be easy to agree upon. To intervene in such situations the soft systems approach uses the notion of a "system" as an interrogative device that will enable debate amongst concerned parties. In its 'classic' form the methodology consists of seven steps, with initial appreciation of the problem situation leading to the modelling of several human activity systems that might be thought relevant to the problem situation. By discussions and exploration of these the decision makers will arrive at accommodations (or, exceptionally, at consensus) over what changes may be systemically desirable and situationally feasible. Later explanations of the ideas give a more sophisticated view of this systemic method, and do give more attention to locating the methodology in respect to its philosophical underpinnings. It is though the earlier classical view which is most widely used in practice.

There are several hundred documented examples of the successful use of SSM in many different fields, ranging from ecology, to business and military logistics. It has been adopted by many organisations and incorporated into other approaches: in the 1990s for example it was the recommended planning tool for the UK government's SSADM systems development methodology.

The general applicability of the approach has led to some criticisms that it is functionalist, non-emancipatory or supports the status quo and existing power structures; this is a claim that users would deny, arguing that the methodology itself can be none of these, it is the user of the methodology that may choose to employ it in such a way.

The methodology has been described in several books and many academic articles.

SSM remains the most widely used and practical application of systems thinking, and other systems approaches such as Critical Systems Thinking have incorporated many of its ideas

The 7-stage description

7-stage representation of SSM:
# Enter situation considered problematical
# Express the problem situation
# Formulate root definitions of relevant systems of purposeful activity
# Build conceptual models of the systems named in the root definitions
# Comparing models with real world situations
# Define possible changes which are both possible and feasible
# Take action to improve the problem situation
#

See also

* Enterprise modelling
* Hard systems
* Holism
* List of thought processes
*
* Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method
* Systems theory
* Systems thinking
* Systems philosophy

References

# Checkland, P.B. (2001) Soft Systems Methodology, in J. Rosenhead and J. Mingers (eds), Rational Analysis for a Problematic World Revisited. Chichester: Wiley

Further reading

* Checkland, P.B. and J. Scholes (2001) Soft Systems Methodology in Action, in J. Rosenhead and J. Mingers (eds), Rational Analysis for a Problematic World Revisited. Chichester: Wiley
* Checkland, P.B. & Poulter, J. (2006) Learning for Action: A short definitive account of Soft Systems Methodology and its use for Practitioners, teachers and Students, Wiley, Chichester. ISBN 10 0-470-02554-9
* Checkland, P.B. "Systems Thinking, Systems Practice", John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1981, 1998. ISBN 0-471-98606-2
* Checkland, P.B. and S. Holwell "Information, Systems and Information Systems", John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1998. ISBN 0-471-95820-4
* Wilson, B. "Systems: Concepts, Methodologies and Applications", John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1984, 1990. ISBN 0-471-92716-3
* Wilson, B. "Soft Systems Methodology", John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 2001. ISBN 0-471-89489-3

External links

* Homepage [http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/profiles/peter-checkland/ Peter Checkland] .
* Mark P. Mobach, Jos J. van der Werf & F.J. Tromp, [http://www.isss.org/2000meet/papers/20088.pdf The art of modelling in SSM] , in papers ISSS meeting 2000.
* Business Process Transformation - Spring 1996, [http://www-staff.it.uts.edu.au/~jim/bpt/ssm.html Models for Change Soft Systems Methodology ] , 1996.
* Report [http://sern.ucalgary.ca/courses/seng/613/F97/grp4/ssmfinal.html Soft Systems Methodology] by Dale Couprie, Alan Goodbrand, Bin Li, David Zhu, Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, 2007.
* Action research and evaluation on line, Session 13: [http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/areol/areol-session13.html Soft systems methodology] , 2007
* Business Open Learning Archive, [http://www.bola.biz/research/ssm.html Checkland and Smyth's CATWOE and Soft Systems Methodology] , 2007.