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.

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.

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. 

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.

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

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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

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.

Before we can begin to sort out how to approach this situation it's appropriate to identify the relevant stakeholders and their motivations.

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It is now appropriate to investigate the possible leverage points for the current situation in an attempt to understand the most appropriate components for the strategy.

Assumptions to this point need to be challenged to ensure we are on solid ground before moving forward.

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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.

The goal seeking structure endeavors to bring a balance between a current state and a desired state. This is one of the two foundation archetypes. The other being the growth structure. See also Archetypes.

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.

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.