Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #137708 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Health Service Journal, 20 June 2002
"...a primer and hidden gem..."

Review
"...a primer and hidden gem..." (Health Service Journal, 20 June 2002)

From the Back Cover
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.

Customer Reviews

The founding work for SSM
This book is the primary publication for Soft Systems Methodology. In it, Peter Checkland desrines the rise of systems thinking, and argues the case for the soft systems approach. The methodology is explained, and various considerations which arose through it's use explored. SSM, which has been continuously evolving over the last 25 years, is as relevant to problems in social research, management studies and intervention in social systems as it ever was. I also liked the sequel Soft Systems Methodology in Action.

Soft Systems Methodology a must for management consultants
An excellent book. detailing must have skills for all strategy consultants. If you dont know soft systems you can't be a very good strategic consultant. SSM promotes the handling of complex non linear chaotic and confused situations SSM gives consultants a tool box which enables them to handle the hardest and most inpenetrable of problems and promotes shared learning and real vision building. Buy it Read it Live it Coin it!!

Academic treatise - not for the new Business Analyst
This is not a text book for newcomers to Soft Systems Modelling. Checklanduses a large amount of text to explain the history of the development ofSSM and to explain how other academics have misunderstood some of SSM'sbasic thinking. You will learn little that is not already in Soft SystemsMethodology in Action.
Leave this book to the academics that enjoy thecut and thrust of debate and the 'meaning of words'