REFLECTING ON SSM - THE LINK BETWEEN ROOT DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTUAL MODELS

In a previous paper the authors argued that the line dividing the 'rea l world' from the 'systems thinking world' in Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) should be disregarded lest it be taken to indicate a false dual ism. One of the supporting reasons for the elimination of this line wa s the problem that arose in practice concerning the link between root definitions and conceptual models, constantly encountered during the 2 5 years in which SSM has been used and developed. The relationship bet ween root definitions and conceptual models was taken to be based only on an instrumental 'logic'. Here it is argued that root definitions d efine and induce dispositions. The dispositions root definitions defin e are expressed in terms of conceptual models, while the dispositions they induce are the source of the effects they have on the problem-sol ving practice. In this way, the sole dependency on instrumental logic as the link between the two is loosened, allowing different forms of r elationship between the two to emerge, including ones linked more clos ely to the evolving content of a systems study. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.