Critical Systems Thinking

8Critical Systems Practice 4 – Check on Progress

There are no whole truths; all truths are half‐truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil.

(Whitehead, 1956)

8.1 Introduction

This chapter discusses Check, the fourth stage of Critical Systems Practice (CSP). CSP does not expect in one intervention to bring about comprehensive and sustainable improvement. Ideally, it should be run as a continuous process which identifies and manages new issues as they arise. However, changing priorities, time and/or financial constraints, or just a wish to know what has been achieved so far, will at some point call a halt to a specific intervention. Check will then assume centre stage. An effective way of evaluating interventions in complex situations is necessary. A brief argument that this must be systems‐based is provided before three alternative forms of systemic evaluation are presented and assessed. These are the use of ‘single systems methodologies’, the ‘systems concepts’ approach and a proposal based on Critical Systems Thinking (CST). The latter, it is argued, rests on firmer foundations and offers more complete guidelines for evaluations in complex situations. Also important in Check is to harness the learning gained during the intervention by reflecting on CST and CSP, and the systems approaches used. Finally, Check asks decision‐makers and other stakeholders to use the results of the evaluation to initiate a discussion on the next steps. Examples are ...