Problem structuring methods
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Problem structuring methods (PSMs) are a group of techniques used to model or to map the nature or structure of a situation or state of affairs that some people want to change.[1] PSMs are usually used by a group of people in collaboration (rather than by a solitary individual) to create a consensus about, or at least to facilitate negotiations about, what needs to change.[2] Some widely adopted PSMs[1] include
- soft systems methodology[3]
- the strategic choice approach[4]
- strategic options development and analysis (SODA)[5]
Unlike some problem solving methods that assume that all the relevant issues and constraints and goals that constitute the problem are defined in advance or are uncontroversial, PSMs assume that there is no single uncontested representation of what constitutes the problem.[6]
PSMs are mostly used with groups of people, but PSMs have also influenced the
History
The term "problem structuring methods" as a label for these techniques began to be used in the 1980s in the field of operations research,[8] especially after the publication of the book Rational Analysis for a Problematic World: Problem Structuring Methods for Complexity, Uncertainty and Conflict.[9] Some of the methods that came to be called PSMs had been in use since the 1960s.[2]
Thinkers who later came to be recognized as significant early contributors to the theory and practice of PSMs include:[10]
- Horst Rittel and Melvin M. Webber[11]
- Russell L. Ackoff[12]
- Peter Checkland[13]
- Colin Eden and Fran Ackermann[14]
- Michael C. Jackson[15]
- Jonathan Rosenhead and John Mingers[16]
Types of situations that call for PSMs
In discussions of problem structuring methods, it is common to distinguish between two different types of situations that could be considered to be problems.[17] Rittel and Webber's distinction between tame problems and wicked problems (Rittel & Webber 1973) is a well known example of such types.[17] The following table lists similar (but not exactly equivalent) distinctions made by a number of thinkers between two types of "problem" situations, which can be seen as a continuum between a left and right extreme:[18]
Thinker | Left extreme | Right extreme |
---|---|---|
Rittel & Webber | Tame problem | Wicked problem |
Herbert A. Simon | Programmed decision | Non-programmed decision |
Russell L. Ackoff | Puzzle / Problem | Mess |
Jerome Ravetz | Technical problem | Practical problem |
Ronald Heifetz | Technical challenge | Adaptive challenge |
Peter Checkland | Hard systems | Soft systems |
Donald Schön | The high ground | The swamp |
Barry Johnson | Problems to solve | Polarities to manage |
Tame problems (or puzzles or technical challenges) have relatively precise, straightforward formulations that are often amenable to solution with some predetermined technical fix or algorithm. It is clear when these situations have changed in such a way that the problem can be called solved.
Wicked problems (or messes or adaptive challenges) have multiple interacting issues with multiple
PSMs were developed for situations that tend toward the wicked or "soft" side, when methods are needed that assist
Characteristics
Problem structuring methods constitute a family of approaches that have differing purposes and techniques, and many of them had been developed independently before people began to notice their family resemblance.[17] Several scholars have noted the common and divergent characteristics among PSMs.
Eden and Ackermann identified four characteristics that problem structuring methods have in common:[19]
- The methods focus on creating "a model that is populated with data that is specific to the problem situation". These cause–effect models can be analyzed (albeit in different ways by different methods), and the models are intended to facilitate conversation and negotiation between the participants.
- The methods seek to increase the overall productivity of group processes. Productivity includes creating better agreements that are more likely to be implemented, and realizing (to the extent possible in the given situation) ideals such as communicative rationality and procedural justice.
- The methods emphasize that the facilitationof effective group processes requires some attention to, and open conversation about, power and politics within and between organizations. Power and politics can become especially important when major change is being proposed.
- The methods provide techniques and skills for facilitation of group processes, and they appreciate that such techniques and skills are essential for effective participative decision-making. People who use PSMs must pay attention to what group facilitatorscall process skills (guiding interactions between people through nonlinear applications of the methods) and content skills (helping people build sufficiently comprehensive models of the given situation).
Rosenhead provided another list of common characteristics of PSMs, formulated in a more prescriptive style:[20]
- Seek solutions which satisfice on separate dimensions rather than seeking an optimal decisionon a single dimension.
- Integrate hard and soft (quantitative and qualitative) data with social judgments.
- Produce models that are as transparent as possible to and that clarify conflicts of interpretation, rather than hiding conflicts behind neutral technical language.
- Consider people to be agents actively involved in the decision-making process, rather than as passive objects to be modeled or ignored.
- Facilitate the problem structuring process from the bottom-up as much as possible, not only top-down from formal organizational leadership.
- Aim to preserve options in the face of unavoidable uncertainty, rather than to base decisions on a prediction of the future.
An early literature review of problem structuring proposed grouping the texts reviewed into "four streams of thought" that describe some major differences between methods:[21]
- the checklist stream, which is step-by-step technical problem solving (not problem structuring as it came to be defined in PSMs, so this stream does not apply to PSMs),
- the definition stream, which is primarily modeling of relationships between variables, as described by Ackoff and others,
- the science research stream which emphasizes doing field research and gathering quantitative data, and
- the people stream, which "regards the definition of problems as a function of people's perceptions" as described by Checkland, Eden, and others.
Compared to large group methods
Mingers and Rosenhead have noted that there are similarities and differences between PSMs and large group methods such as Future Search,
Compared to participatory rural appraisal
There is significant overlap or shared characteristics between PSMs and some of the techniques used in participatory rural appraisal (PRA). Mingers and Rosenhead pointed out that in situations where people have low literacy, the nonliterate (oral and visual) techniques developed in PRA would be a necessary complement to PSMs, and the approaches to modeling in PSMs could be (and have been) used by practitioners of PRA.[23]
Applications
In 2004, Mingers and Rosenhead published a literature review of papers that had been published in
Technology and software
PSMs are a general
Software programs for supporting problem structuring include Banxia Decision Explorer and Group Explorer,
Some practitioners prefer not to use computers during group work sessions because of the effect they have on group dynamics, but such use of computers is standard in some PSMs such as SODA[27] and dialogue mapping,[28] in which computer display of models or maps is intended to guide conversation in the most efficient way.[26]
In some situations additional software that is not used only for PSMs may be incorporated into the problem structuring process; examples include spreadsheet modeling, system dynamics software[30] or geographic information systems.[31] Some practitioners, who have focused on building system dynamics simulation models with groups of people, have called their work group model building (GMB) and have concluded "that GMB is another PSM".[32] GMB has also been used in combination with SODA.[33]
See also
- Causal model
- Boundary critique
- Decision conferencing
- Delphi method
- Group concept mapping
- Inquiry § Inquiry in the pragmatic paradigm
- Method engineering
- Participatory modeling
- Policy § Policy cycle
- Problem finding
- Problem formulation
- Problem shaping
- Research question
- Richards Heuer § Structured analytic techniques
- Stakeholder analysis
Notes
- ^ a b Rosenhead 2013, p. 1162
- ^ a b Rosenhead 1996, p. 117
- ^ Checkland & Poulter 2006
- ^ Friend & Hickling 2005
- ^ Reynolds & Holwell 2010, pp. 135–190
- ^ Rosenhead 1996, p. 118
- ^ For example: Chatjoulis & Humphreys 2007
- ^ For examples, see: Norris 1985, p. 871; Dunn 1988, p. 720; Landis 1988, pp. 117–119. William N. Dunn wrote in 1988: "In the absence of appropriate problem-structuring methods, how can we expect to formulate problems that encompass the proper elements, for example, the proper policy objectives, alternatives, and expected outcomes? Given a particular problem formulation, how do we know whether all important elements have been included in the set? In short, how do we know when we have formulated an approximate solution to the right problem, as distinguished from an exact solution to the wrong problem?" (Dunn 1988, p. 720)
- ^ Rosenhead 1989
- ^ Rosenhead 2013, p. 1164
- ^ Rittel & Webber 1973
- ^ For example: Ackoff 1974, Ackoff 1979
- ^ Checkland 1975, Checkland 1981
- ^ For example: Eden & Sims 1979, Eden 1982, Eden & Ackermann 2006
- ^ For example: Jackson & Keys 1984, Flood & Jackson 1991
- ^ For example: Rosenhead 1989, Mingers & Rosenhead 2001
- ^ a b c d Rosenhead 2013, pp. 1163–1164
- ^ a b This table is adapted from: Culmsee & Awati 2013, p. 108
- ^ Eden & Ackermann 2006
- ^ Rosenhead 2013, pp. 1164–1165
- ^ Woolley & Pidd 1981, pp. 203–204
- ^ a b Mingers & Rosenhead 2004, p. 548; examples of large group methods can be found in Bunker & Alban 2006
- ^ Mingers & Rosenhead 2004, pp. 548–549
- ^ a b Mingers & Rosenhead 2004, pp. 541–542
- ^ Rosenhead 2013, p. 1167
- ^ a b c d Rosenhead 2013, p. 1170
- ^ a b Ackermann & Eden 2011; Rosenhead 2013, p. 1169
- ^ a b Conklin 2006; Culmsee & Awati 2013; Culmsee & Awati 2014
- ^ Mackenzie et al. 2006
- ^ For example: Rodriguez-Ulloa & Paucar-Caceres 2005; Hovmand 2014, p. 83
- ^ For example: Pfeiffer et al. 2008; Ferretti 2016
- ^ Andersen et al. 2007, p. 691
- ^ Herrera et al. 2016
References
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Further reading
- Veldhuis, Guido Arjan; Scheepstal, Peter van; Rouwette, Etiënne; Logtens, Tom (June 2015). "Collaborative problem structuring using MARVEL". EURO Journal on Decision Processes. 3 (3–4): 249–273. S2CID 108617231.
- Bryson, John M.; Eden, Colin; Ackermann, Fran (2014). Visual strategy: a workbook for strategy mapping for public and nonprofit organizations. San Francisco: OCLC 883462253.
- Cronin, Karen; .
- Groetker, Ralf (2014). "Visualized problem structuring for stakeholder consultations: enabling informed decision-making with argument maps and the argument browser". In Okada, Alexandra; Buckingham Shum, Simon J.; Sherborne, Tony (eds.). Knowledge cartography: software tools and mapping techniques. Advanced information and knowledge processing (2nd ed.). New York: OCLC 890438015.
- Hogan, Michael J.; Harney, Owen M.; Broome, Benjamin J. (2014). "Integrating Argument Mapping with Systems Thinking Tools: Advancing Applied Systems Science". In Okada, Alexandra; Buckingham Shum, Simon J.; Sherborne, Tony (eds.). Knowledge cartography: software tools and mapping techniques. Advanced information and knowledge processing (2nd ed.). New York: Springer. pp. 401–421. OCLC 890438015.
- Jordan, Thomas (2014). "Deliberative methods for complex issues: a typology of functions that may need scaffolding". Group Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal (13): 50–71.
- Yearworth, Mike; White, Leroy (September 2014). "The non-codified use of problem structuring methods and the need for a generic constitutive definition" (PDF). S2CID 30180206.
- Ferreira, J. Soeiro (June 2013). "Multimethodology in metaheuristics". S2CID 1170426.
- Metcalfe, Mike; Sastrowardoyo, Saras (November 2013). "Complex project conceptualisation and argument mapping". International Journal of Project Management. 31 (8): 1129–1138. .
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- Golnam, Arash; Tapandjieva, Gorica; Viana, Sérgio; Wegmann, Alain (2011). "Problem structuring methods in system dynamics modeling: a cognitive fit perspective". In Lyneis, James M.; Richardson, George P. (eds.). 29th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society 2011: Washington, DC, USA, 24–28 July 2011: proceedings. Albany: OCLC 772917674.
- Roam, Dan (2011). Blah blah blah: what to do when words don't work. New York: ISBN 9781591844594.
- Belton, Valerie; Stewart, Theodor (2010). "Problem Structuring and Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis". In Ehrgott, Matthias; Figueira, José; Greco, Salvatore (eds.). Trends in Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis. International series in operations research & management science. Vol. 142. New York: ISBN 9781441959034.
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