Problem structuring methods

Problem structuring methods (PSMs) are a group of techniques used to model or to map the nature or
structure of a situation or state of affairs that some people want to change.[1] PSMs are usually used by a
group of people in collaboration (rather than by a solitary individual) to create a consensus about, or at least
to facilitate negotiations about, what needs to change.[2] Some widely adopted PSMs[1] include soft
systems methodology,[3] the strategic choice approach,[4] and strategic options development and analysis
(SODA).[5]

Unlike some problem solving methods that assume that all the relevant issues and constraints and goals that
constitute the problem are defined in advance or are uncontroversial, PSMs assume that there is no single
uncontested representation of what constitutes the problem.[6]

PSMs are mostly used with groups of people, but PSMs have also influenced the coaching and counseling
of individuals.[7]

History
The term "problem structuring methods" as a label for these techniques began to be used in the 1980s in the
field of operations research,[8] especially after the publication of the book Rational Analysis for a
Problematic World: Problem Structuring Methods for Complexity, Uncertainty and Conflict.[9] Some of the
methods that came to be called PSMs had been in use since the 1960s.[2]

Thinkers who later came to be recognized as significant early contributors to the theory and practice of
PSMs include:[10]

Horst Rittel and Melvin M. Webber[11]

Russell L. Ackoff[12]
Peter Checkland[13]
Colin Eden and Fran Ackermann[14]
Robert L. Flood and Michael C. Jackson[15]
Jonathan Rosenhead and John Mingers[16]

Types of situations that call for PSMs

In discussions of problem structuring methods, it is common to distinguish between two different types of
situations that could be considered to be problems.[17] Rittel and Webber's distinction between tame
problems and wicked problems (Rittel & Webber 1973) is a well known example of such types.[17] The
following table lists similar (but not exactly equivalent) distinctions made by a number of thinkers between
two types of "problem" situations, which can be seen as a continuum between a left and right extreme:[18]
 Different types of situations, and thinkers who named them[18]
Thinker Left extreme Right extreme
Rittel & Webber Tame problem Wicked problem

Herbert A. Simon Programmed decision Non-programmed decision

Russell L. Ackoff Puzzle / Problem Mess

Jerome Ravetz Technical problem Practical problem

Ronald Heifetz Technical challenge Adaptive challenge

Peter Checkland Hard systems Soft systems

Donald Schön The high ground The swamp

Barry Johnson Problems to solve Polarities to manage

Tame problems (or puzzles or technical challenges) have relatively precise, straightforward formulations
that are often amenable to solution with some predetermined technical fix or algorithm. It is clear when
these situations have changed in such a way that the problem can be called solved.

Wicked problems (or messes or adaptive challenges) have multiple interacting issues with multiple
stakeholders and uncertainties and no definitive formulation. These situations are complex and have no
stopping rule and no ultimate test of a solution.

PSMs were developed for situations that tend toward the wicked or "soft" side, when methods are needed
that assist argumentation about, or that generate mutual understanding of multiple perspectives on, a
complex situation.[17] Other problem solving methods are better suited to situations toward the tame or
"hard" side where a reliable and optimal solution is needed to a problem that can be clearly and
uncontroversially defined.

Characteristics
Problem structuring methods constitute a family of approaches that have differing purposes and techniques,
and many of them had been developed independently before people began to notice their family
resemblance.[17] Several scholars have noted the common and divergent characteristics among PSMs.

Eden and Ackermann identified four characteristics that problem structuring methods have in common:[19]

1. The methods focus on creating "a model that is populated with data that is specific to the
problem situation". These cause–effect models can be analyzed (albeit in different ways by
different methods), and the models are intended to facilitate conversation and negotiation
between the participants.
2. The methods seek to increase the overall productivity of group processes. Productivity
includes creating better agreements that are more likely to be implemented, and realizing (to
the extent possible in the given situation) ideals such as communicative rationality and
procedural justice.
3. The methods emphasize that the facilitation of effective group processes requires some
attention to, and open conversation about, power and politics within and between
organizations. Power and politics can become especially important when major change is
being proposed.
4. The methods provide techniques and skills for facilitation of group processes, and they
appreciate that such techniques and skills are essential for effective sensemaking, systems
modeling, and participative decision-making. People who use PSMs must pay attention to
 what group facilitators call process skills (guiding interactions between people through
nonlinear applications of the methods) and content skills (helping people build sufficiently
comprehensive models of the given situation).

Rosenhead provided another list of common characteristics of PSMs, formulated in a more prescriptive
style:[20]

Seek solutions which satisfice on separate dimensions rather than seeking an optimal
decision on a single dimension.
Integrate hard and soft (quantitative and qualitative) data with social judgments.
Produce models that are as transparent as possible to and that clarify conflicts of
interpretation, rather than hiding conflicts behind neutral technical language.
Consider people to be agents actively involved in the decision-making process, rather than
as passive objects to be modeled or ignored.
Facilitate the problem structuring process from the bottom-up as much as possible, not only
top-down from formal organizational leadership.
Aim to preserve options in the face of unavoidable uncertainty, rather than to base decisions
on a prediction of the future.

An early literature review of problem structuring proposed grouping the texts reviewed into "four streams
of thought" that describe some major differences between methods:[21]

the checklist stream, which is step-by-step technical problem solving (not problem
structuring as it came to be defined in PSMs, so this stream does not apply to PSMs),
the definition stream, which is primarily modeling of relationships between variables, as
described by Ackoff and others,
the science research stream which emphasizes doing field research and gathering
quantitative data, and
the people stream, which "regards the definition of problems as a function of people's
perceptions" as described by Checkland, Eden, and others.

Compared to large group methods

Mingers and Rosenhead have noted that there are similarities and differences between PSMs and large
group methods such as Future Search, Open Space Technology, and others.[22] PSMs and large group
methods both bring people together to talk about, and to share different perspectives on, a situation or state
of affairs that some people want to change. However, PSMs always focus on creating a sufficiently
rigorous conceptual model or cognitive map of the situation, whereas large group methods do not
necessarily emphasize modeling, and PSMs are not necessarily used with large groups of people.[22]

Compared to participatory rural appraisal

There is significant overlap or shared characteristics between PSMs and some of the techniques used in
participatory rural appraisal (PRA). Mingers and Rosenhead pointed out that in situations where people
have low literacy, the nonliterate (oral and visual) techniques developed in PRA would be a necessary
complement to PSMs, and the approaches to modeling in PSMs could be (and have been) used by
practitioners of PRA.[23]

Applications
In 2004, Mingers and Rosenhead published a literature review of papers that had been published in
scholarly journals and that reported practical applications of PSMs.[24] Their literature survey covered the
period up to 1998, which was "relatively early in the development of interest in PSMs",[25] and categorized
51 reported applications under the following application areas: general organizational applications;
information systems; technology, resources, planning; health services; and general research. Examples of
applications reported included: designing a parliamentary briefing system, modeling the San Francisco Zoo,
developing a business strategy and information system strategy, planning livestock management in Nepal,
regional planning in South Africa, modeling hospital outpatient services, and eliciting knowledge about
pesticides.[24]

Technology and software

PSMs are a general methodology and are not necessarily dependent on electronic information
technology,[26] but PSMs do rely on some kind of shared display of the models that participants are
developing. The shared display could be flip charts, a large whiteboard, Post-it notes on the meeting room
walls, and/or a personal computer connected to a video projector.[26] After PSMs have been used in a
group work session, it is normal for a record of the session's display to be shared with participants and with
other relevant people.[26]

Software programs for supporting problem structuring include Banxia Decision Explorer and Group
Explorer,[27] which implement cognitive mapping for strategic options development and analysis (SODA),
and Compendium, which implements IBIS for dialogue mapping and related methods;[28] a similar
program is called Wisdom.[29] Such software can serve a variety of functions, such as simple technical
assistance to the group facilitator during a single event, or more long-term online group decision support
systems.

Some practitioners prefer not to use computers during group work sessions because of the effect they have
on group dynamics, but such use of computers is standard in some PSMs such as SODA[27] and dialogue
mapping,[28] in which computer display of models or maps is intended to guide conversation in the most
efficient way.[26]

In some situations additional software that is not used only for PSMs may be incorporated into the problem
structuring process; examples include spreadsheet modeling, system dynamics software[30] or geographic
information systems.[31] Some practitioners, who have focused on building system dynamics simulation
models with groups of people, have called their work group model building (GMB) and have concluded
"that GMB is another PSM".[32] GMB has also been used in combination with SODA.[33]

See also
Causal model
Boundary critique
 Decision conferencing
Delphi method
Group concept mapping
Inquiry § Inquiry in the pragmatic paradigm
Method engineering
Participatory modeling
Policy § Policy cycle
Problem finding
Problem formulation
Problem shaping
Research question
Richards Heuer § Structured analytic techniques
Stakeholder analysis

Notes
1. Rosenhead 2013, p. 1162 15. For example: Jackson & Keys 1984, Flood
2. Rosenhead 1996, p. 117 & Jackson 1991
3. Checkland & Poulter 2006 16. For example: Rosenhead 1989, Mingers &
4. Friend & Hickling 2005 Rosenhead 2001
17. Rosenhead 2013, pp. 1163–1164
5. Reynolds & Holwell 2010, pp. 135–190
18. This table is adapted from: Culmsee &
6. Rosenhead 1996, p. 118
Awati 2013, p. 108
7. For example: Chatjoulis & Humphreys
19. Eden & Ackermann 2006
2007
8. For examples, see: Norris 1985, p. 871; 20. Rosenhead 2013, pp. 1164–1165
Dunn 1988, p. 720; Landis 1988, pp. 117– 21. Woolley & Pidd 1981, pp. 203–204
119. William N. Dunn wrote in 1988: "In the 22. Mingers & Rosenhead 2004, p. 548;
absence of appropriate problem-structuring examples of large group methods can be
methods, how can we expect to formulate found in Bunker & Alban 2006
problems that encompass the proper 23. Mingers & Rosenhead 2004, pp. 548–549
elements, for example, the proper policy 24. Mingers & Rosenhead 2004, pp. 541–542
objectives, alternatives, and expected
outcomes? Given a particular problem 25. Rosenhead 2013, p. 1167
formulation, how do we know whether all 26. Rosenhead 2013, p. 1170
important elements have been included in 27. Ackermann & Eden 2011; Rosenhead
the set? In short, how do we know when 2013, p. 1169
we have formulated an approximate 28. Conklin 2006; Culmsee & Awati 2013;
solution to the right problem, as Culmsee & Awati 2014
distinguished from an exact solution to the
29. Mackenzie et al. 2006
wrong problem?" (Dunn 1988, p. 720)
30. For example: Rodriguez-Ulloa & Paucar-
9. Rosenhead 1989
Caceres 2005; Hovmand 2014, p. 83
10. Rosenhead 2013, p. 1164
31. For example: Pfeiffer et al. 2008; Ferretti
11. Rittel & Webber 1973 2016
12. For example: Ackoff 1974, Ackoff 1979 32. Andersen et al. 2007, p. 691
13. Checkland 1975, Checkland 1981 33. Herrera et al. 2016
14. For example: Eden & Sims 1979, Eden
1982, Eden & Ackermann 2006
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(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/751832290).
 Woolley, Robert N.; Pidd, Michael (March 1981). "Problem structuring—a literature review".
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ps://doi.org/10.1057%2Fjors.1981.42). JSTOR 2581061 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/258106
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Further reading
Veldhuis, Guido Arjan; Scheepstal, Peter van; Rouwette, Etiënne; Logtens, Tom (June
2015). "Collaborative problem structuring using MARVEL". EURO Journal on Decision
Processes. 3 (3–4): 249–273. doi:10.1007/s40070-015-0045-1 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs
40070-015-0045-1). S2CID 108617231 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:10861723
1).
Bryson, John M.; Eden, Colin; Ackermann, Fran (2014). Visual strategy: a workbook for
strategy mapping for public and nonprofit organizations (https://books.google.com/books?id=
N1vOAwAAQBAJ). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN 9781118605929. OCLC 883462253
(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/883462253).
Cronin, Karen; Midgley, Gerald; Jackson, Laurie Skuba (February 2014). "Issues mapping: a
problem structuring method for addressing science and technology conflicts" (https://www.re
searchgate.net/publication/277450288). European Journal of Operational Research. 233 (1):
145–158. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2013.08.012 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ejor.2013.08.012).
Groetker, Ralf (2014). "Visualized problem structuring for stakeholder consultations:
enabling informed decision-making with argument maps and the argument browser" (https://
books.google.com/books?id=loa4BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA309). In Okada, Alexandra;
Buckingham Shum, Simon J.; Sherborne, Tony (eds.). Knowledge cartography: software
tools and mapping techniques. Advanced information and knowledge processing (2nd ed.).
New York: Springer Verlag. pp. 309–332. doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-6470-8_14 (https://doi.or
g/10.1007%2F978-1-4471-6470-8_14). ISBN 9781447164692. OCLC 890438015 (https://w
ww.worldcat.org/oclc/890438015).
Hogan, Michael J.; Harney, Owen M.; Broome, Benjamin J. (2014). "Integrating argument
mapping with systems thinking tools: advancing applied systems science" (https://www.rese
archgate.net/publication/271326448). In Okada, Alexandra; Buckingham Shum, Simon J.;
Sherborne, Tony (eds.). Knowledge cartography: software tools and mapping techniques.
Advanced information and knowledge processing (2nd ed.). New York: Springer. pp. 401–
421. doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-6470-8_18 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-1-4471-6470-8_1
8). ISBN 9781447164692. OCLC 890438015 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/890438015).
Jordan, Thomas (2014). "Deliberative methods for complex issues: a typology of functions
that may need scaffolding" (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267642714). Group
Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal (13): 50–71.
Yearworth, Mike; White, Leroy (September 2014). "The non-codified use of problem
structuring methods and the need for a generic constitutive definition" (https://ore.exeter.ac.u
k/repository/bitstream/10871/26098/1/EJOR-S-13-03166-RevisedManuscript-300114.pdf)
(PDF). European Journal of Operational Research. 237 (3): 932–945.
doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2014.02.015 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ejor.2014.02.015).
hdl:10871/26098 (https://hdl.handle.net/10871%2F26098). S2CID 30180206 (https://api.sem
anticscholar.org/CorpusID:30180206).
Ferreira, J. Soeiro (June 2013). "Multimethodology in metaheuristics" (http://repositorio.inesc
tec.pt/handle/123456789/5876). Journal of the Operational Research Society. 64 (6): 873–
883. doi:10.1057/jors.2012.88 (https://doi.org/10.1057%2Fjors.2012.88). S2CID 1170426 (ht
tps://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:1170426).
Metcalfe, Mike; Sastrowardoyo, Saras (November 2013). "Complex project
conceptualisation and argument mapping". International Journal of Project Management. 31
(8): 1129–1138. doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2013.01.004 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ijproman.2
013.01.004).
Midgley, Gerald; Cavana, Robert Y.; Brocklesby, John; Foote, Jeff L.; Wood, David R. R.;
Ahuriri-Driscoll, Annabel (August 2013). "Towards a new framework for evaluating systemic
problem structuring methods" (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ejor.2013.01.047). European
Journal of Operational Research. 229 (1): 143–154. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2013.01.047 (https://d
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Golnam, Arash; Tapandjieva, Gorica; Viana, Sérgio; Wegmann, Alain (2011). "Problem
structuring methods in system dynamics modeling: a cognitive fit perspective" (https://www.r
esearchgate.net/publication/266877552). In Lyneis, James M.; Richardson, George P. (eds.).
29th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society 2011: Washington, DC,
USA, 24–28 July 2011: proceedings. Albany: System Dynamics Society.
ISBN 9781618392299. OCLC 772917674 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/772917674).
Roam, Dan (2011). Blah blah blah: what to do when words don't work. New York:
Portfolio/Penguin. ISBN 9781591844594.
Belton, Valerie; Stewart, Theodor (2010). "Problem structuring and multiple criteria decision
analysis". In Ehrgott, Matthias; Figueira, José; Greco, Salvatore (eds.). Trends in multiple
criteria decision analysis. International series in operations research & management
science. Vol. 142. New York: Springer Verlag. pp. 209–239. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-5904-
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Kilgour, D. Marc; Eden, Colin, eds. (2010). Handbook of group decision and negotiation (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=tGsQl-wxbKAC). Advances in group decision and
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g/10.1007%2F978-90-481-9097-3). ISBN 9789048190966.
Cuppen, E. H. W. J. (Eefje) (2009). Putting perspectives into participation: constructive
conflict methodology for problem structuring in stakeholder dialogues (Ph.D. thesis).
Amsterdam. hdl:1871/15611 (https://hdl.handle.net/1871%2F15611). ISBN 9789088911354.
OCLC 890620243 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/890620243).
Hürlimann, Mark (2009). Dealing with real-world complexity: limits, enhancements and new
approaches for policy makers (https://books.google.com/books?id=igr9qNtw3doC). Gabler
Edition Wissenschaft. Wiesbaden: Betriebswirtschaftlicher Verlag Gabler. doi:10.1007/978-
3-8349-8074-8 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-3-8349-8074-8). ISBN 9783834980748.
OCLC 405547025 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/405547025).
Kopainsky, Birgit; Luna-Reyes, Luis F. (July 2008). "Closing the loop: promoting synergies
with other theory building approaches to improve system dynamics practice". Systems
Research and Behavioral Science. 25 (4): 471–486. doi:10.1002/sres.913 (https://doi.org/10.
1002%2Fsres.913).
Waltner-Toews, David; Kay, James; Lister, Nina-Marie E., eds. (2008). The ecosystem
approach: complexity, uncertainty, and managing for sustainability. Complexity in ecological
systems series. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231132503.
OCLC 221664360 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/221664360).
Lengler, Ralph; Eppler, Martin J. (2007). "Towards a periodic table of visualization methods
for management" (http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.html). IASTED
Proceedings of the Conference on Graphics and Visualization in Engineering (GVE 2007),
Clearwater, Florida, USA. Calgary. pp. 1–6. OCLC 244786254 (https://www.worldcat.org/ocl
c/244786254).
Morton, Alec; Ackermann, Fran; Belton, Valerie (May 2007). "Problem structuring without
workshops?: experiences with distributed interaction within a PSM process" (http://core.ac.u
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S2CID 5165781 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:5165781).
O'Brien, Frances A.; Dyson, Robert G., eds. (2007). Supporting strategy: frameworks,
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