Many of you may come to this course from the Information Systems field. Some of you undoubtedly have systems analysis experiences. We can make certain calculations about such systems - there is a certain predictability. The formal problem solving method should work but seems to fail repeatedly. I suspect you could just tell your boss he was wrong - or that she could not do what she wanted to do.
Bosses learn too.
Peter Checkland's original conception of this area went so far as to relate soft systems methodology to crisis, conflict, uncertainty or unease in human relationships. The tools that have been developed help us explore these intense types of relationships. The third major area we will look at are systems failures . I created a glass half-full of accomplishments where there was nothing before. Systems failures are in the eye of the beholder.