Soft Systems Methodology, SSM

CORE DEFINITION

An approach developed by Peter Checkland in response to the limits of hard systems engineering on problems with unclear goals and conflicting human interests. It distinguishes hard problems, where the objective is defined and can be engineered, from soft problems such as health service reform or education policy, where stakeholders hold different worldviews. The method builds rich pictures of the situation, derives root definitions that make each worldview explicit, constructs conceptual models, and compares them with reality to identify feasible changes. The aim is organizational learning rather than a unique optimal answer.