Listing all resources tagged with the tag = 'Causal Loop'
Visualisation of Relationships
Categories: Modelling • Systems Thinking
Tags: berlow • causal loop • complexity • relationship • systems thinking • video • visualise
Summary
This is a recurring theme. Systems-thinking, systems engineering and architecture description are primarily concerned with identifying and managing the important relationships with other things in the world. They are relationship-centric rather than object-centric.
It is often hard for folks used to using flat 2D diagrams produced in PowerPoint or Visio to appreciate the potential power behind relationships. Flat diagrams don't make it easy to explore nearby related things and because they're limited in terms of the parameters you can apply, for example weightings to indicate proximity or importance, you often need many versions or different cut-sets of the bigger one.
Having a means to store objects and relationships and represent them allows you to explore beyond the immediate vicinity to assess impacts and dependencies. There is a very nice example on TED.com of the use of relationships by ecologist Eric Berlow which is helped by the ability to visualise them in a nice way. This could be achieved using a architecture description repository although the visualisation is probably not as good. There are bound also to be other tools that are good at representing and filtering relationships - possibly harking back to the thoughts for visualisations of information sources using Resource Description Format (RDF). With Linked Data gaining ground you need only to be able to see that relationships or dependencies exist but to be able to see what affect the strength of that relationship has. The Mk1 Human Being is highly adapted to visual input and stimulus so it is perhaps not surprising that being able to see and manipulate visually is a powerful tool in identifying context and assessing impact.
Comments
Chosen at random from all the resources listed:
- Soft Systems Methodology in Action by Jim Scholes, Peter B. Checkland
- Advanced Systems Thinking, Engineering, and Management by Derek K. Hitchins
- Soft Systems Methodology in Action by Jim Scholes, Peter B. Checkland
- MSc Business and Systems Thinking (incorporating PG Cert/PG Dip) by -- Uknown -- -- Uknown --
- The Systems Bible: The Beginner’s Guide to Systems Large and Small (3rd Edition) by John Gall