Understanding relationships is the foundation of effective problem solving. Though relations exists on multiple levels.

Jackson's System of Systems Methodology (SOSM) framework presents a construct that enables one to begin to make sense of the broad array of approaches that claim to embrace the Systems Thinking paradigm.

There are things we can influence and usually a broader array of things we are concerned about though can't influence. It's important to know the differerence otherwise we waste our energies trying to change things we have no influence over. 

When endeavoring to develop an understanding of the nature of something it is generally useful to create a model of some type to aid in surfacing that understanding.

Our actions are based on our beliefs and the results of those actions are the basis for our beliefs. The difficulty we create for ourselves is that we make assumptions as to how to interpret the results we select based on our beliefs. As a result we are often operating on a flawed perspective of reality.

One question that I seem to be getting more and more often is "Should I do this in Insight Maker or Kumu?" At one time that was an easy answer, and still is for certain things, for others it's becoming more and more difficult.

Once the strategy is developed the relationship model must evolve to represent that implementation appropriately sequenced.

Strategy is simply an idea as to how to move the current situation to the desired situation though it is seldom simple by any means. If the strategy is to be successful how numerous elements will be able support each other through the transition must be defined.

Imagine you could create anything you chose with the existing technology and resources. What would it be?

There exists a well defined set of possible ways to alter an existing set of interactions. Each of these alterations will produce a particular effect depending on the relations the change is relative to. Identifying which are possible and which will migrate the interactions to produce the desired situation is the essence of the strategy.

This is a model used to generate the historical patterns of behavior for the Network Magic example.

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The strategy is actually a set of structural changes that have to be made to the relationships that cause the future to be different than the past.

This is a template which one might use as a basis for creating Insight Maker Relationship models. Links have default style of the blue ones in the diagram. The easiest way to get the red dashed links is to CTRL+d to duplicate them and then connect where appropriate.

It's now time for the stakeholders to take the investigation resulting from leverage and craft a strategy which will address the current situation in a manner that is beneficial to the whole system.

The situation Big Box Distribution considers to be a problem is an average accounts receivable period which is considered unacceptable as it is costing them money.

When we're trying to understand a situation it is often very helpful to have a sense of the historical trends of several dimensions relevant to the situation.

In addition to identifying the relevant stakeholders it is essential to understand which elements of the situation are relevant to which stakeholders. Often this is quite apparent and at times it's not so obvious. 

To this point the Situation, Behavior, Model, Stakeholder and Boundary aspects of this situation have been investigated. It is now appropriate to consider the assumptions that have been made to this point and ensure we are on a solid foundation before proceeding to the Leverage and Strategy aspects are considered.

While understanding the interacting components responsible for the situation is important it is even more important to understand the stakeholders as they are the ones responsible for the interacting components being the way they are.

The establishment of a goal is one way to provide a basis for results thought is has its difficulties.

Investigating the behavior of several variables over time has probably raised more questions than answers. As such now it's time to investigate what else might be influencing the trending of these variables.

An introduction to what seems to be our typical approach to dealing with problems that arise unexpectedly when we're focused on dealing with other immediate issues.

Developing a strategy for dealing with a situation begins with a description of the situation and the preferred state for today, not in some distant future, and the perceived implications of not doing anything.

When the relevant interactions are identified it's appropriate to identify which elements are the responsibility of which stakeholders, which elements are part of the addressable interactions and which elements are part of the environment.