CSH – Critical Systems Heuristics by Werner Ulrich
Academia Letters, No. 332, 25 Feb, 2021
Is there such a thing as "alternative facts"? The controversy surrounding this question has been ... more Is there such a thing as "alternative facts"? The controversy surrounding this question has been with us since the inauguration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, but it has not produced a satisfactory answer. This short essay goes beyond the overly simplistic assumption that has dominated the controversy, that facts are either true or false. It explains why in so many discussions the parties have reasons to see "the facts" differently and thus, if only they understood these reasons, could avoid talking at cross-purposes and accusing one another of having got their facts wrong. Perhaps, then, there is indeed a chance that people could learn to deal constructively with such situations and learn to employ "facts" in systematically critical ways? The essay introduces the methodological principle of "boundary critique" as a tool that many people should be able to understand and to use to this end.
Erskine Science Prestige Lecture, Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand, 26 May 1999 / Edited version of 1 May 2018, Werner Ulrich's Home Page, May 1, 2018
One of the key issues of the coming decades will be the question of "knowledge": What counts as k... more One of the key issues of the coming decades will be the question of "knowledge": What counts as knowledge, and who defines what counts as knowledge? Understanding this issue may well be a key to understanding — and changing — the realities of our modern world. Like any other key resource, knowledge tends to be distributed unequally and to become concentrated in the hands of the relatively few who can produce or define it. The question that interests me in this Lecture is this: What can we offer against this near-monopoly of knowledge and power from which ordinary people in all societies are excluded? How can the knowledge society become a knowledge democracy?
Urich's Bimonthly, March-May 2018, May 12, 2018
In an "Interview with myself," the author reflects on the origin and role of the idea of boundary... more In an "Interview with myself," the author reflects on the origin and role of the idea of boundary critique in his work on critical systems heuristics (CSH), a framework for reflective professional practice. The essay also offers an overview of some CSH concepts that help to operationalize boundary critique, as well as an appendix on the vision of a "knowledge democracy" that has been motivating the ongoing development of boundary critique.
Ulrich's Bimonthly, March-April 2017, Jun 12, 2017
Systemic triangulation is an extension of the conventional concept of triangulation in science, t... more Systemic triangulation is an extension of the conventional concept of triangulation in science, that is, of the use of multiple methods and data sources. It draws on the author's work on critical systems heuristics and its methodological core principle of boundary critique, so as to systematically uncover the anatomy of selectivity of claims to knowledge, rationality, and improvement, particularly in the applied disciplines. The underlying imagery is explained in terms of the author's "eternal triangle of boundary critique."
Ulrich's Bimonthly (prepublication version, 2012); def. version in Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science, 3rd ed. (S. I. Gass and M.C. Fu, eds., New York: Springer, 2013), Nov 1, 2012
This entry on "Critical systems thinking" (CST), prepared for a major encyclopedia in the field o... more This entry on "Critical systems thinking" (CST), prepared for a major encyclopedia in the field of Operations Research and Management Science, offers a non-partisan, comparative account of CST's two major strands, CSH and TSI. A new, integrative understanding of CST emerges in which both strands, although in different ways, focus on enhancing the contextual sophistication of professionals.
Systems Approaches to Managing Change: A Practical Guide, M. Reynolds & S. Holwell (eds.), London: Springer, in association with the Open University, Milton Keynes, UK, pp. 243-292, Apr 16, 2010
Critical systems heuristics (CSH) is a framework for reflective professional practice organised a... more Critical systems heuristics (CSH) is a framework for reflective professional practice organised around the central tool of boundary critique. This paper, written jointly by the original developer (Ulrich) and an experienced practitioner (Reynolds) of CSH, offers a systematic introduction to the idea and use of boundary critique. Its core concepts are explained in detail and their use is illustrated by means of two case studies from the domain of environmental planning and management. A particular focus is on working constructively with tensions between opposing perspectives as they arise in many situations of professional intervention. These include tensions such as ‘situation’ versus ‘system’, ‘is’ versus ‘ought’ judgements, concerns of ‘those involved’ versus ‘those affected but not involved’, stakeholders’ ‘stakes’ versus ‘stakeholding issues’, and others. Accordingly, boundary critique is presented as a participatory process of unfolding and questioning boundary judgements rather than as an expert-driven process of boundary setting. The paper concludes with a discussion of some essential skills and considerations regarding the practice of boundary critique.
[Note: A revised and updated version of this article has appeared under the title "Critical systems heuristics: the idea and practice of boundary critique" in the second edn. of the book, retitled Systems Approaches to Making Change: A Practical Guide, London: Springer, in association with The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK, 2020, pp. 255-306, ISBN 978-1-4471-7474-5, e-ISBN 978-1-4471-7475-2]
Ulrich’s Bimonthly, May 1, 2006
A brief introduction, written in an informal, "leisurely" style, to the basic idea of boundary cr... more A brief introduction, written in an informal, "leisurely" style, to the basic idea of boundary critique and its importance for the "critical turn" of systems thinking
ECOSENSUS Project Website Web site of the ECOSENSUS project, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK, 14 October 2005, http://www.ecosensus.info/about/index.html, Oct 14, 2005
A 15-page introduction to critical systems heuristics (CSH), both for beginners and for advanced ... more A 15-page introduction to critical systems heuristics (CSH), both for beginners and for advanced students.
Independent Research Monograph, Centre for Systems Studies, University of Hull, Hull, UK, 31 March 1996. New, slightly edited digital version, May 10, 2014
Ours is an age of the experts – and of those who can afford to pay them. Expert-driven problem so... more Ours is an age of the experts – and of those who can afford to pay them. Expert-driven problem solving often imposes solutions upon people that are not their solutions, as they had no voice in their making. What can we offer against this monopoly of knowledge and power from which ordinary people in all societies tend to be excluded? A shared interest in this question is the common core of action research as I understand it and of the strand of critical systems thinking to which this Primer is dedicated, critical systems heuristics (CSH). As one of the most popular introductions to CSH, this monograph is now finally available in a digital version, with unchanged text, layout, and pagination except for some minor editorial and layout corrections.
Systems Practice (now Systemic Practice and Action Research), Vol. 6, 2006, No. 6, 1993, pp. 583-611. This post-publication version in: Werner Ulrich's Home Page, Download section, http://wulrich.com/downloads.html , Mar 12, 1993
Can systems thinking remedy the difficulties of ecological thinking? A discussion of the need for... more Can systems thinking remedy the difficulties of ecological thinking? A discussion of the need for a new, critically normative concept of ecology, and at the same time an introduction to critical systems heuristics (CSH) as a framework for reflective practice.
European Journal of Operational Research, 31, No. 3, 1987, pp. 276-283, Sep 1987
A short introduction to the author's critical systems heuristics (CSH), a framework for reflectiv... more A short introduction to the author's critical systems heuristics (CSH), a framework for reflective professional practice based in critical systems thinking and practical philosophy.
Abstract: Health care planning, city and regional planning, energy and transportation planning, environmental design, social policy planning and other areas of social systems design are becoming issues of increasing concern to policy makers. Faced with complex steering problems that may have far-reaching implications, they expect help from applied disciplines such as operations research, systems design, technology assessment, program evaluation, and many others; but these approaches rarely offer much help in critically identifying and reflecting on the normative implications of the problem definitions and solutions they inspire. Critical systems heuristics (CSH) is a framework to this end. This paper, an early short introduction to CSH that is still widely used today, introduces some key concepts of CSH and briefly discusses their significance for "rational" practice.
CST – New Competence for Professionals & Citizens by Werner Ulrich
Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 18, No. 1, 2001, pp. 3-28., Jan 2001
How can we develop competence in research and professional practice? This essay tries to answer t... more How can we develop competence in research and professional practice? This essay tries to answer the question from the perspective of critical systems thinking, that is, through an approach that aims to promote reflective research and practice. The paper is written for research students and practitioners in different professional fields. It addresses them in a direct and personal way.
Note: This article is a considerably expanded version of the Lincoln School of Management Working Paper No. 22 of June 1998 (also available in this site).
A further-expanded and updated version was prepared for Ulrich's Bimonthly, July-August 2017 (Vol. 15, No. 4, 28 August 2017) and is equally available in the Academia.edu site, see Section "Philosophy for Professionals – on Good practice," entry "Ulrich, W. (2017)".
Lincoln School of Management Working Papers Series, No. 23 , Jun 1998
The author's research program of the 1990s and early 2000s, 'Critical Systems Thinking for Citize... more The author's research program of the 1990s and early 2000s, 'Critical Systems Thinking for Citizens', is explained and discussed with special regard to its goal of contributing to the revival of civil society. A main argument is that there is a need to see citizenship in terms of civic competences rather than civic rights only, and that critical systems thinking has a contribution to make to this end. A second argument is that a new critical competence on the part of citizens will also alter our notion of competent management, another urgent need of a living civil society.
Critical Systems Thinking: Current Research and Practice (R.L. Flood and N.R.A. Romm, eds.), New York and London: Plenum Press, 1996
The goal of pragmatizing critical systems thinking FOR citizens must be critical systems thinking... more The goal of pragmatizing critical systems thinking FOR citizens must be critical systems thinking BY citizens. In this short essay I argue that critical systems thinking (CST) indeed has a üotential to give new meaning to the concept of citizenship; it might enable all of us to become more responsible citizens. My question is, how can we harvest this potential?
Centre for Systems Studies Research Memorandum No. 10, 1996
If critical systems thinking (CST) is to contribute to enlightened societal practice, e.g., with ... more If critical systems thinking (CST) is to contribute to enlightened societal practice, e.g., with respect to the pressing environmental and social issues of our time, it should be accessible not only to well-trained professionals and decision-makers but also to a majority of citizens. How, then, can we pragmatize CST so that citizens can own and use it?
Interfaces, 24, No. 4, July- August 1994, pp. 26-37. (Special Section: In Celebration of C. West Churchman's 80 Years, pp. 1-100). Rev. version of 2009, in: Werner Ulrich's Home Page, Section "A Tribute to C. West Churchman", 1994
Future-responsive management raises far-reaching cognitive and methodological difficulties. This ... more Future-responsive management raises far-reaching cognitive and methodological difficulties. This essay in honor of C.W. Churchman, former management scientist and research philosopher at the University of California, Berkeley, analyzes some of these difficulties in the light of Churchman's systems thinking about planning and management. Although systems thinking cannot make the difficulties in question disappear, it can help us to better understand them and to face them self-critically. To this end, the systems idea has more to contribute than is generally recognized. The paper suggests some basic elements of a critical systems ethics yet to be developed.
RP – Reflective Practice by Werner Ulrich
Ulrich's Bimonthly, May-June, 2013
Third of three articles on the practical philosophy of Jurgen Habermas within the "Reflections on... more Third of three articles on the practical philosophy of Jurgen Habermas within the "Reflections on reflective practice" series. The present first half focuses on discourse ethics, while the second half, yet to be completed, will focus on deliberative democracy.
Ulrich's Bimonthly, May-June, 2010
Second half of an exploratory essay, includes a fictitious dialogue with Jurgen Habermas about hi... more Second half of an exploratory essay, includes a fictitious dialogue with Jurgen Habermas about his discourse ethics.
Ulrich's Bimonthly, March-April, 2010
First half of an exploratory essay that aims to prepare and support the introduction to Habermas'... more First half of an exploratory essay that aims to prepare and support the introduction to Habermas' practical philosophy (especially its third part) within the "Reflections on Reflective Practice" series.
Ulrich's Bimonthly, November-December , 2009
Second part of the three-part introduction to Habermas' practical philosophy within the "Reflecti... more Second part of the three-part introduction to Habermas' practical philosophy within the "Reflections on Reflective Practice" series, with a particular focus on the methodological foundations of communicative rationality.
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CSH – Critical Systems Heuristics by Werner Ulrich
[Note: A revised and updated version of this article has appeared under the title "Critical systems heuristics: the idea and practice of boundary critique" in the second edn. of the book, retitled Systems Approaches to Making Change: A Practical Guide, London: Springer, in association with The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK, 2020, pp. 255-306, ISBN 978-1-4471-7474-5, e-ISBN 978-1-4471-7475-2]
Abstract: Health care planning, city and regional planning, energy and transportation planning, environmental design, social policy planning and other areas of social systems design are becoming issues of increasing concern to policy makers. Faced with complex steering problems that may have far-reaching implications, they expect help from applied disciplines such as operations research, systems design, technology assessment, program evaluation, and many others; but these approaches rarely offer much help in critically identifying and reflecting on the normative implications of the problem definitions and solutions they inspire. Critical systems heuristics (CSH) is a framework to this end. This paper, an early short introduction to CSH that is still widely used today, introduces some key concepts of CSH and briefly discusses their significance for "rational" practice.
CST – New Competence for Professionals & Citizens by Werner Ulrich
Note: This article is a considerably expanded version of the Lincoln School of Management Working Paper No. 22 of June 1998 (also available in this site).
A further-expanded and updated version was prepared for Ulrich's Bimonthly, July-August 2017 (Vol. 15, No. 4, 28 August 2017) and is equally available in the Academia.edu site, see Section "Philosophy for Professionals – on Good practice," entry "Ulrich, W. (2017)".
RP – Reflective Practice by Werner Ulrich
[Note: A revised and updated version of this article has appeared under the title "Critical systems heuristics: the idea and practice of boundary critique" in the second edn. of the book, retitled Systems Approaches to Making Change: A Practical Guide, London: Springer, in association with The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK, 2020, pp. 255-306, ISBN 978-1-4471-7474-5, e-ISBN 978-1-4471-7475-2]
Abstract: Health care planning, city and regional planning, energy and transportation planning, environmental design, social policy planning and other areas of social systems design are becoming issues of increasing concern to policy makers. Faced with complex steering problems that may have far-reaching implications, they expect help from applied disciplines such as operations research, systems design, technology assessment, program evaluation, and many others; but these approaches rarely offer much help in critically identifying and reflecting on the normative implications of the problem definitions and solutions they inspire. Critical systems heuristics (CSH) is a framework to this end. This paper, an early short introduction to CSH that is still widely used today, introduces some key concepts of CSH and briefly discusses their significance for "rational" practice.
Note: This article is a considerably expanded version of the Lincoln School of Management Working Paper No. 22 of June 1998 (also available in this site).
A further-expanded and updated version was prepared for Ulrich's Bimonthly, July-August 2017 (Vol. 15, No. 4, 28 August 2017) and is equally available in the Academia.edu site, see Section "Philosophy for Professionals – on Good practice," entry "Ulrich, W. (2017)".
Professional practice and the practice of citizenship need to be understood in such a way that professionals and citizens can meet as equals, though not necessarily as equally skilled individuals. Methodologically speaking, this is possible if we can show that there exists a common core of competencies that both sides can contribute to reflective practice.
This essay finds such a core competence in the new concept of critically systemic thinking. The author introduces some of its basic ideas and explains why they might become the source of a new critical competence for citizens as well as for professionals.
Integral PDF version of the two-part essay in Ulrich's Bimonthly, May-June and July-August 2017, 47pp. The essay is a revised, expanded and updated version of an articled published under the title "The quest for competence in systemic research and practice" in the journal Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 18, No. 1, 2001, pp. 3-28 (26pp), which in turn was a considerably extended version of an earlier Working Paper of the Lincoln School of Management of June 1998 (19pp).
The discussion originates in a seminar with research students and staff of the Lincoln School of Management in Lincoln, UK, on the topic of how we can develop competence in (systemic) research. With the present publication, the author hopes to offer some help to readers who seek orientation in formulating or advancing their understanding of research (e.g., their dissertation project) or who wish to clarify their notion of professional competence.
Slightly rev. postpublication version of 6 April 2017, prepared for Academia.edu (first digital version).
Note: A considerably expanded version of this Working Paper appeared under the title "The quest for competence in systemic research and practice" in Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2001, pp. 3-28. A further expanded and updated version was prepared for Ulrich's Bimonthly, July-August 2017 (Vol. 15, No. 4, 28 August 2017) and is equally available in the Academia.edu site, see Section "Philosophy for Professionals – on Good practice," entries "Ulrich, W. (2017)".
systems thinking and practical philosophy is key to serving the cause of ethically
grounded, socially rational decision-making. A three-level framework of rational systems practice provides a starting point that 30 years after it was first outlined can still guide innovative research and professional practice.
discursive framework for applying the staircase.
The present article is a prepublication version from Ulrich's Bimonthly, January-February 2016 (2 Jan 2016), available both in HTML and in PDF format; the PDF version is also available in Werner Ulrich's Home Page, Section "A Tribute to C. West Churchman," as well as in the site's "Downloads" section.
Note: This is an updated and extended version of 21 Oct 2015, of a paper originally published in 2005 as a review of a book in German language that had not yet been translated into English then but which, I suggested, should be made available to the English speaking world. The revision allowed adapting the review's terminology to that of the translator. The original review was published in Journal of Research Practice, 1, No. 1, 2005, Article R2 (5 March 2010), under the title "Can nature teach us good research practice? A critical look at Frederic Vester’s bio-cybernetic systems approach," with a minor Postscript of 10 April 2008 giving updated links to work by Frederic Vester. The present, expanded version is also available in the "Downloads" section of Werner Ulrich's Home Page.
Revised version of a Guest Editorial, originally titled "C. West Churchman – 75 Years," which served as the introduction to a Special Issue of the journal Systems Practice (now Systemic Practice and Action Research) in honor of C.W. Churchman's 75th anniversary in August 1988. First uploaded to Academia.edu in April 2015.
The Guest Editorial in turn was based on an essay titled "An appreciation of C. West Churchman," which was originally written for the section "Luminaries of the Systems Approach" of the web site of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS), first published on 29 August 1999 and updated several times (last update 4 Nov 2009). A major revision of 12 Nov 2002 was subsequently published in both HTML and PDF formats in the section "A Tribute to C.W. Churchman" of the author's home page, followed by a final revision of 26 March 2009 (last updated 16 Jan 2016). See the PDF file made available here for the essay history.
This expanded and updated postpublication version is of 4 November 2015, prepared for Ulrich's Bimonthly, November-December 2015, in both HTML and PDF versions. See
http://wulrich.com/bimonthly_november2015.html and
http://wulrich.com/downloads/ulrich_2015h.pdf
1. An adequate practical conception of critical systems thinking today needs to be based on a discursive theory of critique rather than a framework of critical methodology choice.
2. A discursive systems approach cannot be adequately conceived without considering the role of the public sphere.
3. The much-discussed emancipatory orientation of critical systems thinking inheres in the methodological requirements of rational discourse rather than in a personal act of faith (an emancipatory commitment) on the part of the systems practitioner.
4. Contrary to present conceptions of methodological pluralism or ‘complementarism’, the importance of the emancipatory orientation cannot be restricted to a subclass of problem situations and corresponding methodologies, for the emancipatory orientation is constitutive of all critical inquiry and practice.
These critical considerations lead to a redefinition of critical systems thinking, and to a new view of reflective professional practice in general, as critically systemic discourse.
Note: An extended version was published as "The metaphysics of social systems design" in J.P. van Gigch (ed.), Decision Making About Decision Making: Metamodels and Metasystems, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK: Abacus Press, 1987, pp. 220-228. [ISBN 085626-200-5]
This paper argues that the systems idea is indeed important for developing a new ethics, i.e., a theory of moral action that would match the ethical issues of our time. Following a critical overview of some limitations of traditional ethics, two potential candidates for such a new ethics are analyzed, namely, "communicative ethics" as advanced by contemporary philosophy, especially J. Habermas, and the idea of an "ethics of whole systems" offered by the dialectical systems approach of C.W. Churchman. The paper concludes that an ethics of whole systems can usefully be enriched by taking up the fundamental ideas of communicative ethics, but that both approaches are bound to remain mere programs unless they are reinterpreted and operationalized in the terms of a merely critical solution to the problem of moral judgment, such as it has been advanced by critical systems thinking. A few basic arguments for integrating the three approaches in a *critical systems ethics* are presented. The way to a new ethics, then, leads through critical systems thinking.