Soft Systems Thinking

At the heart of our TRANSFORMATIVE approach is a recognition that complex problematic situations and challenges require different thinking. Soft Systems Thinking offers that difference by focusing holistically on your and your organisation’s Purpose. Through the development of bespoke reference frameworks based on your Purpose, we can help you to concentrate on what needs to be done to achieve that purpose. Moreover, we can help you assess and analyse your organisation’s performance and decide where change is desirable and whether it is feasible. Through our approach, better known as Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), we can make the thinking that underpins the transformation explicit in a way that provides real defensibility and ensures stakeholder participation and buy-in. Subsequently, we tend to concentrate our work with you and your organisation on the improvements of specific business functions and link our reference framework to any of a number of good practice approaches and international standards most suitable to effect the change. Throughout we seek to transfer our knowledge and skills so as to empower you to lead and guide your enterprise to be able to respond or adapt to forthcoming challenges.
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Book – Our recent work, Soft Systems Thinking, Methodology and the Management of Change (published by Palgrave Macmillan), identifies the challenges encountered by practitioners of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and provides the means of overcoming them. We focus on the practical application of ideas whilst offering insight and real-world guidance on the use of SSM concepts and methodology.

Key benefits of our book:

·        Written by one of the major developers of Soft Systems Methodology

·        Demonstrates the use of Conceptual Model Building

·        Includes a range of in-depth case studies and explores applied learning

Our book is an invaluable resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students taking soft system methodology modules, as well as consultants and practitioners in the field, or commissioners of consultancies wishing to gain insight into a highly effective problem structuring approach.

Courses – The content of the book has been used to develop several course modules for Warwick Business School MBA Programmes, University College London systems engineering and technology management, University of West England systems engineering, and in the recent past also for the Loughborough University School of Business and Economics. We are regular contributors to the INCOSE UK training days. In addition, we have a created a number of short courses that we provide on a regular basis at a number of locations across the United Kingdom and as part of the People Analytics and Planning Society’s event programme.  We would be pleased to tailor these for small groups and to provide them at a time and location of your choice. Contact us for more information.

Models Downloads – Additional case study material and generic models can be downloaded in pdf format via Palgrave’s accompanying website. We are also making the majority of the models available in electronic formats for direct use or import into modelling and analysis tools; see Library of Models.