A high level goal may be called a vision. Supporting a goal at a lower level is a plan, consisting of a set of actions, decisions, tools and participants designed to achieve the goal or vision. As the present state and the future vision or goals change, a plan must accommodate the changes or change itself. Therefore, plans require process to keep on track. A systems viewpoint incorporates other actors and their plans, is responsive to changes that occur as the plan is unfolding, and recognizes that the planner needs to process information and modify the plan at a faster rate than the plan is being executed.
Concerns are the embryonic state of problems, or the beginnings of knowledge about systems.
As possible problems, concerns need to be addressed periodically to see if they have grown large enough to be seen as a problem. Seen as beginnings to knowledge, they need to be combined with other knowledge yet retained for their correspondence to the real world. The concern can arise when a plan or image of the future is not fitting current events. A systems viewpoint notes that concerns of one may not be those of another, and that concerns of the individual have validity regardless of concerns of the populace. Concerns arise when a pattern or understanding does not match perceived reality.