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Critical systems practice 1: Explore —Starting a multimethodological intervention
Author(s) -
Jackson Michael C.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
systems research and behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 1092-7026
DOI - 10.1002/sres.2746
Subject(s) - intervention (counseling) , set (abstract data type) , systems thinking , computer science , carry (investment) , critical systems thinking , critical thinking , epic , management science , epistemology , engineering ethics , sociology , psychology , mathematics education , business , artificial intelligence , engineering , philosophy , psychiatry , art , literature , finance , programming language
This is the first of a series of papers on the stages of critical systems practice. Critical systems practice is a multimethodology that seeks to employ the ideas developed in critical systems thinking to intervene in and improve complex real‐world problem situations. It has four stages— Explore (the problem situation), Produce (an intervention strategy), Intervene (flexibly) and Check (on progress)—called to mind as EPIC. The aim is to set out where thinking has reached on the best way to carry out each of these stages and to invite comment on what more needs doing. The first stage, Explore , is concerned with how to start a multimethodological study. If this is done well, it can bring to the fore opportunities for a full and in‐depth systems intervention. If done badly, it can lead to practice that makes the problem situation worse.