This White paper deep-dives into the first process step of the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) - entering the problematic situation. It continues to explore the structured approach that the SSM provides to guide practitioners, and the way in which this affords integration points for blending with engineering disciplines and frameworks.

The previous white paper in this series introduced the processes, steps and stages that the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) provides to guide practitioners, and the way in which they afford well-formed integration points for blending with engineering disciplines such as INCOSE and TOGAF. It sets the scene for the more detailed exploration of what SSM can add to commonly encountered Architecture Methods to enrich them and make them more effective.

This white paper deep-dives into the first process step – Entering the problematic situation – and illustrates it through scenarios regularly encountered by the Enterprise Architect. It continues to explore the structured approach that the Soft Systems Methodology provides to guide practitioners, and the way in which this affords integration points for blending with engineering disciplines and frameworks.

There’s no substitute for reading the papers themselves, but for readers short of time, the next section is an extract taken from Papers 1 and 5. It provides a very short outline of the Soft Systems Method - what it is, where it came from, and why it is significant. Readers wishing to deepen their background in the topic before embarking on this Paper can read the previous papers.

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