[Sigia-l] Book Announcement + Ethnomethodological Systems Design

[John O'Donovan]

Derek said:
> If creation of the best possible designs using the most direct and
> reliable resources and methodologies requires some type of
> 'clarification' of purpose, as opposed to doing what a generic
> 'research' report claims as automata (i.e. simply because the report
> claims so), then you desperately need to get this book!

Something else to consider is SSM (Soft Systems Methodology).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471986054/ref=sr_aps_books_1_1/202-8330414-1194261

SSM attempts to imbue the analyst with the need to consider both systems
thinking and real world thinking. It's based on analysing problems in the
following context:

C customers the beneficiaries or the victims of T
A actors those who would do T
T transformation process the conversion of input to output
W Weltanschauung the world view which makes T meaningful in context
O owners those who could stop T
E environment elements outside the system which it takes as a given

The importance of the the Weltanschauungen or "world-view" of both
researcher and subject is stressed and things are described from multiple
viewpoints to capture different perceptions.

The measures of success are also specifically abstracted from cost and
represented by:

Efficacy Does the means [i.e. the proposed technical process] work?
Efficiency Are minimal resources being used to produce the desired outcome?
Effectiveness Is the desired outcome being produced?
Ethicality Is the action fitting, moral, etc?
Elegance Is the result aesthetically pleasing? (after Checkland & Scholes,
1990)

The key technique is a 7 step process whereby you are forced to understand
the situation and then abstract it and view the wider picture:

"Soft Systems Methodology was first envisaged as a seven-step process of
inquiry. The preliminary steps of this "classical" SSM consist of
"identifying a problem situation considered problematic", and "expressing
the situation in plain language". These steps are rooted in the empirical.
The intermediate steps, called collectively "systems thinking about the real
world", consist of "developing root definitions" of associated purposeful
activity systems, which give rise to "conceptual models of potential
systems" (i.e. holons). The process concludes with a "comparison stage",
whereby those models are held up against the real world situation. (See
Figure 1). Out of this comparison may emerge "changes systemically desirable
and culturally feasible". In the best case, these suggestions result in
actions to be taken to improve the problem or situation. (Checkland, 1990).
"

It's about understanding systems both in the real world and conceptually,
but not assuming that things are self determined, simple systems. The world
is to be understood as a complex interaction or "flux" of ideas and events.
Systems thinking.

It is often said, that SSM is useful where the main problem is actually
answering the question "What is the problem?"

Another concept to get your head round is that of holons, which are best
described by someone else:

"A new perspective on whole-part relationships is taking shape around the
concept of the holon - a term coined by Arthur Koestler to designate that
which is simultaneously a whole in its own right and a part of a larger
whole. An atom is a whole in itself. When it is also part of a molecule it
becomes a holon, or a whole-part. The molecule that is also part of a cell
is a holon, as is the cell that is part of an organ, and so on. This
hierarchy of relationships from the atom to the organism is known as a
holarchy. The concepts of holon and holarchy are fundamental to
understanding the healthy function of complex living systems, which requires
that each of their whole-parts maintain its own identity and boundaries even
as it functions as part of the larger whole."
David C. Korten, The Post-Corporate World

There is a case study and examples of rich pictures here if you want to know
more...

http://www.csu.edu.au/ci/vol01/finega01/html/

Interesting quote from the above:

The builders of expert systems have generally adopted prototyping as the
preferred method for system development. However, there is strong evidence
that prototyping is of limited success, particularly where human factors and
poorly defined complexity exist. There is the danger that prototyping can be
"technology-driven"...[snip]... techniques which are "technology driven",
such as prototyping, are likely to impress their own structure upon the
knowledge elicitation process through the requirements of the technique's
design and usage. It is important, however, that the expert is prevented
from "trimming" his knowledge to fit the KE (Knowledge Engineering) method
and the knowledge structure of the expert system...

Cheers,

jod

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Derek R" <derek at derekrogerson.com>
To: "Sigia-l" <sigia-l at asis.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2003 9:47 PM
Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] Book Announcement + Ethnomethodological Systems
Design


>
> >>| http://amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1852337184/
>
> joe wrote:
> >| What er...troubles me a bit by the reviews are
> >| the sources: not one CEO or business owner
>
> This book is a *practical* guide to design, not a business-case or other
> feathery deliverable which puts its effect before the cause. This book
> is about how to achieve design in *everyday practice* -- that is 'how to
> achieve design' -- not how to hold-hands and blow bubbles so everybody
> feels good.
>
> If creation of the best possible designs using the most direct and
> reliable resources and methodologies requires some type of
> 'clarification' of purpose, as opposed to doing what a generic
> 'research' report claims as automata (i.e. simply because the report
> claims so), then you desperately need to get this book!
>
> Constant apprehension of ROI has the tendency to render the head too
> large for the body; things quickly become institutionalized and
> delusional.
>
> The best thing for you to do (to relieve your little trouble), is to
> move-the-focus-of-attention to creation and identification of stable and
> enduring processes for the orderly accomplishment of practical
> activities. (This is the Ethnomethodological approach).
>
> Realize things are *socially organized* in real-time (interactional).
>
> For instance, even if you have the perfect ROI plan or 'design
> blueprint,' one still has to *perform* it. There is an idea of something
> -- and -- the thing itself. These are separate aspects.
>
> Any CEO can tell you the success of *any* endeavor turns on its actual
> accomplishment. Therefore, impress upon your boss the value of
> *vernacular understanding* of their own business. Don't take somebody
> else's testimony things are working out ok. *Know* things.
>
> This is both a Quality Assurance and a Strategy which Ethnomethodology
> brings to the table. It focuses *expressly* on the embodied practices
> and interactional competences employed for the accomplishment of
> situated activities.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------
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