From Peter Senge's levels of explanation (The Fifth Discipline, 1990), drawn as an iceberg by Michael Goodman (Systems Thinking: What, Why, When, Where, and How?, 1997).
Reads a problem at four levels: the visible event, the pattern it belongs to, the structures producing the pattern, and the beliefs that keep those structures in place.
When to reach for it
The same kind of problem keeps coming back after every fix, and the fixes have all been aimed at the latest incident.
How it runs
- Name one specific event.
- List similar past events to find the pattern.
- Ask what incentives, rules, or flows produce that pattern.
- Ask what beliefs make those structures seem normal.
- Act at the deepest level within reach.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- The Fifth Discipline, 1990
- Systems Thinking: What, Why, When, Where, and How?, The Systems Thinker, 1997