Systems Analysis

Who’s Teaching It

Ryan Shaw

When & Where It Is

Mondays & Wednesdays 1:25–2:40PM
Manning 208

What It Is

Organizations are not machines with faults to be diagnosed. They are situations in which people who see things differently must nonetheless act together. This course introduces Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), an approach to inquiry developed for exactly this kind of situation: where there is no agreement on what the problem is, let alone what would count as a solution.

We will learn SSM by using it. The situation we will inquire into is the one we are in. We are not observers of this situation. We are inside it, and our inquiry into it is itself part of it.

Is That All?

Nope! You should probably check out the guidelines and the schedule.