DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2158

Summary
Given the wealth of writing under the general heading of ‘systems thinking’, it is disappointing to discover the rarity of detailed work to relate that thinking to ‘particular, carefully sustained’ work in actual situations and work leading to action ‘traceable’ back to the thinking. Only such work will, ultimately, demonstrate whether systems thinking is truly worth doing. This led me to thinking fundamentally about the conditions that need to be met if serious systems thinking,togetherwithactionintheworldthat flows from it, is to be linked. I here suggest four such conditions. The rarity with which they are met helps to explain the relative failure of systems thinking to influence ‘shakers and movers’ in the real world.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
This article justifies when and how systems thinking can be applied to social situations. It warns against an un-cautious use of systems thinking, when there are no epistemological grounding to apply that kind of thinking. It also warns against a similarly un-thought application of action research. But when there is epistemological ground for an action based soft system approach it may be very worthwhile. The four criteria proposed are as follows:
the system thinker ‘should’:
• Understand and argue for the real existence of emergent properties, for that is the core justification for systems ideas;
• Make sure that their work embodies the ‘concept’ of an adaptive whole, which can be used to explore the real worlds complexity;
• Attribute systemicity first to the process of enquiry into the perceived real world, that is, start from the stance of soft systems thinking;
• In order truly to engage with perceived reality, adopt a sharply defined action research methodology, with recoverability of the research story as the best available validity criterion, allowing coherent discussion of both the course of the thinking during the research and its results.”

Point of Strength
This article would be very useful as an introduction to action based, participatory systems mapping. It is also an introduction to the author´s (Peter Checkland) longstanding work in the field.