Systems Thinking, Systems Practice "Whether by design, accident or merely synchronicity, Checkland appears to have developed a habit of writing seminal publications near the start of each decade which establish the basis and framework for systems methodology research for that decade." Hamish Rennie, Journal of the Operational Research Society, 1992 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 Systems Thinking, Systems Practice 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.
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"...a primer and hidden gem..." (Health Service Journal, 20 June 2002)
--This text refers to the
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Develops an explicit account of the ``systems outlook'' and shows how to use that outlook in the solution of practical problems. Describes how the theory and applications were modified through experience and includes reflections on the interaction between theory and practice.
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58 of 58 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Well, since I've been on a bit of a 'systems' binge lately, I might as well review this old gem...
Checkland's book was the first to introduce the differentiation between 'soft' and 'hard' systems analysis. Soft analysis is much more akin to a general, somewhat philosophical approach to the methodology whereas hard analysis is the development of usable engineering models.
First off, this book is actually two books - the first is a fairly long paper that neatly sums up the systems approach over the 30 years it has been explored. The consensus? Things looked really promising at the beginning but unfortunately the approach simply got hung up on the very thing it was trying to escape: science's current preoccupation with reductionism. That is, the hard systems approach attracted the most attention and it quickly succumbed to the very trap it sought to escape starting with its use of rigidly-defined symbols right up to the detailed diddling with mathematical models that, similar to earlier approaches, did not model reality at all due to assumptions and oversimplification.
Checkland is much more interested in the soft approach and he consistently laments the fact that systems methodology is not being taught even though it holds so much promise to solving many of our pressing problems. The overview presses this point home and should be required reading for anyone in management or engineering.
The second section, the original book with a few revisions, is still very relevant. Checkland's focus, soft systems, never was given a chance given our preoccupation with reductionism. Given the recent failures of reductionism, particularly the genome-mapping fiasco, cast systems theory in new light.
Checkland starts out with an excellent overview of the history of science from a (mostly) philosophical perspective. This very readable overview leads directly into his discussion of the history and early development of systems theory. He then focuses on systems methodology (soft systems theory) with some general applications.
The approach is very readable and should be easily understood by anyone - in fact, Checkland stresses the importance of having a wide base of knowledge to help solve real-world problems and points out that much work has been done by people who 'migrated' from other fields. Smuts, one of the pioneers, was actually a politician and only wrote a systems book after losing an election...
It is unfortunate that there are no references to Robert Rosen here since his work, more of a 'hard' approach to systems theory, fully supports Checkland's ideas. In fact, there is a lot of material that should be included as 'backup' for why the systems approach is important as a new direction away from reductionism. Perlovsky's work in cybernetics, Jopling's recent work on self-knowledge, Prigogine's work in thermodynamics and even Kauffman's attempts in biology now point to hypotheses that are only compatible with a systems methodology.
This book, as mentioned above, should be required reading these days. Certainly for anyone contemplating management or engineering it is a very important reference. In fact, the book could basically be used in high-school with a bit of help from Weinberg's systems books. For those looking for more application-specific information I recommend von Bertalanffy's original, Rosen's work, and perhaps a side helping of Weinberg and Gharajedaghi for more ideas.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
When I first read this book I thought it to be revolutionary, ahead of it's time (as others have) and insightful. Despite the fact that Checkland has in large moved away from the ideas and the model of this book - to me it represents the original vision of SSM (soft systems methodology) more so than his later books. Checkland presents a history of systems thinking in the book then goes onto to discuss the need for a new approach - that of SSM. With extreme elegance of style Checkland delivers a long and stinging critique to Hard Systems thinking and presents a coherent and thoughtful argument for his own version SSM. Further he creates a platform for real world problem solving that is useful and interesting. A lot of his ideas have appeared in American texts (like the fifth discipline for example) and rarely are they credited or made use of in that regard. This book is a good place to start exploring the real world of problems with but I would highly recommended that before you go to his two other books you start here. This in my opinion has not been bettered in any systems context to date and I am not sure it ever will or could be. Having said that you really do need to read it and find out for yourself. Be warned it's not for those who want to be challenged in their thinking - especially those of you who don't like the qualitative stuff.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a gem. The basic concepts of systems, hierarchies and emergent properties are developed from the methodologies of physical and social sciences in chapter 3, and makes for fascinating reading. I'm currently writing a master's thesis on it! =)
If you're studying management of information systems or something similar, you are probably sick and tired of overly theoretical approaches to the subject which seem to be just excuses for academics to publish rubbish (eg. structuration, actor network theory, etc). This book may save you from a nervous breakdown.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Systems look at Systems Thinking, Systems Practice.
This book was recommended by a friend with Systems Engineering expertise, and has become one of my favorite books on the subject. Read more
Published on October 23, 2009 by John K. Stevenson
A classic that is very relevant today
I originallay read (and wrote a paper about) Checkland's ideas in 1990 whilst I was studying for my MBA. Then his ideas seemed revolutionary, insightful and impractical. Read more
Published on June 13, 2007 by Suffolk Cyclist
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First Sentence:
We are all of us aware of ourselves as beings in the world, and we are aware also of a very complex world outside ourselves, of which we are a part. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
enquiring system, appreciative settings, designed physical systems, using systems ideas, formal system model, human activity systems, notional system, appreciative system, occasional special case, systems engineering methodology, root definition, conceptual model building, formal systems model, action research programme, soft systems, soft problems, hard systems, comparison stage, decision taker, printing division, concerned actors, systems movement, concerning intellectual property, systems typology, unstructured problems Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Mining Support, Cordia Engineering, Francis Bacon, Ockham's Razor, Frankfurt School, Asia Minor, Master's Course, Bertrand Russell, Max Weber, Tavistock Institute, Tycho Brahe, William of Ockham New!
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Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
We are all of us aware of ourselves as beings in the world, and we are aware also of a very complex world outside ourselves, of which we are a part. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
enquiring system, appreciative settings, designed physical systems, using systems ideas, formal system model, human activity systems, notional system, appreciative system, occasional special case, systems engineering methodology, root definition, conceptual model building, formal systems model, action research programme, soft systems, soft problems, hard systems, comparison stage, decision taker, printing division, concerned actors, systems movement, concerning intellectual property, systems typology, unstructured problems Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Mining Support, Cordia Engineering, Francis Bacon, Ockham's Razor, Frankfurt School, Asia Minor, Master's Course, Bertrand Russell, Max Weber, Tavistock Institute, Tycho Brahe, William of Ockham New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
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100
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- Process and Reality (Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of Edinburgh During the Session 1927-28) by Alfred North Whitehead on page 79, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Freedom in a Rocking Boat: Changing Values in an Unstable Society (Pelican) by Sir Geoffrey Vickers in Front Matter, page 262, and Back Matter
- The New Science of Management Decision by Herbert Alexander Simon in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
- The Methodology Of The Social Sciences by Max Weber in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Living Systems by James Grier Miller in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
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- Rethinking the Fifth Discipline: Learning Within the Unknowable by Robert Louis Flood on 9 pages
- The Challenge of Problem Based Learning by David Boud on 4 pages
- Modelling for Added Value by Robert Macredie on page 85, page 101, and page 190
- Information Systems: The State of the Field (John Wiley Series in Information Systems) by John Leslie King on page 137, page 160, and page 330
- Systems Approaches to Management by Michael C. Jackson on page 252, page 257, and Back Matter
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