This concludes our little journey into constructivism, complex system thinking, and the big question: "What do we really really really know?"
| Inputs | Philosophy of Science | Outputs | ||
| Evidence, epistemological questions | —> | Epistemology | —> | Paradigm |
| Evidence, scientific problems | —> | Science | —> | Theories & Models |
| Evidence, managerial problems | —> | Practice | —> | Solution to problems |
Not really a summary of two article, but rather a summary of two constructivists‘ concepts.
Firstly, Flood and Jackson propose a System of Systems and point out the modelling approaches suitable for these specific systems:
| Unitary | Pluralist | Coercive | |
| Simple | Operation Research, Systems Analysis, Systems Engineering, System Dynamics | Social Systems Design, Strategic Assumption Surfacing and Testing | Critical Systems Heuristics |
| Complex | Viable Systems Model, General Systems Theory, Socio-Technical Systems Thinking, Contingency Theory | Interactive Planning, Soft Systems Methodology |
Secondly, because at some point in time I just had to write it down again, Simon’s constructivist process of decision-making, originally published in 1979:
Intelligence (Is vs. Ought situation) —> Design (Problem Solving) —> Choice —> Implementation —> Evaluation
With the extension of decision loops if no choice can be made as proposed by Le Moigne, revisiting the Design, Intelligence, or even the Initial step: