the problem situation. By getting all the relevant people who are the decision-makers in this situation to come together, sit down in discussion and exploration about the definition of the problem. Only then will the decision makers in said situation will more likely arrive at a mutual agreement which will settle any arguments or problems and help get to the solution over exactly what kind of changes could be either systemically desirable and feasible in the situation at hand. Later explanations of the ideas give a more sophisticated view of this systemic method and give more attention to locating the methodology with respect to its philosophical underpinnings. It is the earlier classical view which is most widely used in practice (created by Peter Checkland). A common criticism of this earlier methodology is that it follows an approach that is too linear. Checkland himself agreed that the earlier methodology is ‘rather bald’. Most advanced SSM analysts will agree, though, that the classical view is an easy way for inexperienced analysts to learn the SSM methodology. SSM has been successfully used as a business analysis methodology in various fields. Real-world examples of SSM’s wide range of applicability include research applying SSM in the sugar industry leading to improvements in business partner relationships, successful use as an approach in project management by directly involving stakeholders or aiding in business management by improving communication between stakeholders. It has proven to be a useful analysis approach to teaching and learning processes, as it does not require a specific problem to be identified as its starting point – which has led to “outside of the box” suggestions for improvement. SSM was even used by the UK government as part of the revaluation of their Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM) system development methodology. Even professional researchers who are to take the change for face value structure of thinking, show the same tendency to distort perceptions of the world rather than change the mental structure which we give our bearings with. Failure of classic systems in rich ‘management’ problem situations during the research programme led to examining the adequacy of the systems thinking. The methodology has been described in several books and many academic articles. SSM remains the most widely used and practical application of systems thinking, and other systems approaches such as critical systems thinking have incorporated many of its ideas. Representation evolution SSM had