Systemic Methods : Methods

Systemic thinking and methods became part of mainstream management methods in 1990 after Peter Senge's book about learning organizations called The Fifth Discipline. Senge's book is based on a systemic method called 'Systems Dynamics', which was developed by Jay Forrester. But the fact is, there are many systemic methods and like any map (or model) they are useful in certain contexts:

	General Systems Theory or Open Systems Theory
	Systems Dynamics
	Soft Systems Model
	Viable Systems Model
	Cybernetics

Systemic Method:

General Systems Theory or Open Systems Theory

Theory / Philosophy:

Ludwig von Bertalanffy is credited for founding the general systems theory in mid-20th century. His book 'General Systems Theory', published in 1968, is considered the classic text about the theory. Theory was developed by Bertalanffy while doing research in biology.
The key points:

	A system consists of parts but the system as a whole is more than sum of parts.
	Functional and relational criteria, opposed to reductionism analysis, is used to define parts.
	A system co-exists in relation to an environment.
	Self-organization is the key characteristics of an open system
	System maintains it functionality and structure because of continuous flow of information and energy between system and its environment.

Methodology / Model:

Key elements:

	System has many levels, sub-systems and components
	Goal is to understand the relationship and interaction between levels and parts of the system as a whole.
	Method is essentially empirical.

Systemic Method :

Systems Dynamics

Theory / Philosophy:

Jay Forrester, the founder of Systems Dynamics (SD), claims in Principles of Systems : "Man lives and works within social systems. His scientific research is exposing the structure of nature's systems. His technology has produced complex physical systems... a "systems" means a grouping of parts that operate together for a common purpose. An automobile is a system of components that work together for a common purpose".

SD views world as made of systems and it emphasizes on understanding the structure and process within the systems. SD assumes that analysis of a situation can be undertaken from an external objective viewpoint and that the structure and dynamic processes of the "real world" can be re-created in both systems diagrams (casual loops) and mathematical models.

Methodology / Model:

Key steps to SD modeling:

	Identify a problem.
	Develops a dynamic hypothesis explaining the cause of the problem.
	Build a computer simulation model of the system at the root of the problem.
	Test the model to be certain that it reproduces the behavior seen in the real world.
	Devise and test in the model alternative policies that alleviate the problem.
	Implement this solution.

Systemic Method:

Soft Systems Model

Theory / Philosophy:

Peter Checkland developed Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) at Lancaster University in UK. In simple terms, SSM is a systemic methodology to learn and solve problems which are of subjective in nature. Checkland breaks away from traditional hard systems (SD) view which regards system as a real objective reality, from Checkland's perspective, reality is complex and "system" is a concept to do abstract thinking about the reality rather than as a way to engineer and control it.
The key points:

	"System" is a concept to organize our thoughts about reality
	SSM has been developed for use in ill-structured or messy problem contexts where there is no clear view on what "constitutes the problem"

Methodology / Model:

Systemic Method :	Viable Systems Model
Theory / Philosophy:	Stafford Bear defined viable systems model (VSM) through three texts: Brain of the Firm, Heart of the Enterprise and Diagnosing the Systems for Organizations. Beer derives VSM from Cybernetics and argues that it is a model for any viable system, biological or social. VSM defines rules/process whereby a system can regulate, learn, adapt and evolves. VSM is a structured model of a systemwith five main components - operations, co-ordination, control, intelligence, and policy.
Methodology / Model:

Systemic Method :

Cybernetics

Theory / Philosophy:

Based on information theory and influenced by Gregory Bateson's Theory of Mind, Cybernetics was developed by Norbert Wiener as the science of communication and control in the animal and the machine.
The key points:

	A system is an aggregate of interacting parts or components.
	Information is the difference which makes a difference.
	Feedback and control is the key idea of cybernetics.

Methodology / Model:

Key elements:

	Identify the system boundaries.
	Identify system components.
	Identify and understand feedback loops.
	Understand the behavior of a system, which is typically teleonomic, that is, oriented towards a future state, which does not exist as yet.

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