My New Canvas

Update No. 11 - draft intro

noreply@blogger.com (pravin) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:48:00 +0000

i sent this draft intro (slightly modified since) over to my project supervisor sometime yesterday.
i welcome comments from anyone still reading this blog

Update No. 10 - Mind Maps

noreply@blogger.com (pravin) — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 15:32:00 +0000

Mind Mapping
apologies
.... i should have started uploading these a while back.
i've been putting together a few mindmaps over the last couple of months just to get my ideas down on paper to help me with this project.
i'll upload some more in the next couple of days... but here is one of the early ones that i uploaded to my flicker some time ago

Update No. 9 - working Abstract

noreply@blogger.com (pravin) — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 11:27:00 +0000

ok so well im into report writing... to be honest im a little reluctant to post up the working abstract i've just written... though at present i feel it possibly best describes this study to date...

bear in mind it is subject to change - and will more than likely change!

This study titled [Title of Project], documents an investigation into how final year Advanced Systems Analysis (ADSYS) students approach and handle the ADSYS unit.

The study observes and monitors the students’ progress, problems faced and interaction amongst other students studying the unit, through the use of a web-based tool aimed at assisting and supporting students studying the unit.

The study concludes with suggestions to future improvements that could be made to the ADSYS unit and the tools used to support students studying the unit.

comments are welcome...

Update No. 8 - mini update

noreply@blogger.com (pravin) — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 22:15:00 +0000

apologies for the lack of movement over the winter period. things should pick up again quite soon

just a quick update to say that

im still alive and this project is still making progress
i've had to bring the completion date forward - as i will be moving to london sometime mid-march. this means that i am now currently aiming to get around 90% of the project completed by 16th March 2007 (instead of the 4th May)

you can expect another update in the next few days...

Update No. 7 - the plan/waffling

noreply@blogger.com (pravin) — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 00:25:00 +0000

so i've yet to explain what the plan is now as a result of the slight change in direction i've decided to make - described in the last post.

i left the last update with the following question:

would individuals interested in learning SSM, get a better grasp of the subject if the communication medium was different?

this question really forms the basis of this new direction, which in many respects is now beginning to look at areas such as:

how could individuals interested in learning SSM could get a better grasp of the subject area - further than the core texts?
what impact would collaboration have? - we used a tool last year which promoted collaboration when studying the ADSYS unit.
what is actually wrong with the core texts? is there anything 'really' wrong with them?
if the core texts were communicated using a different medium - would that really make a difference?

i'm going to keep this post brief. really because im still a little unsure of a few things and never managed to get a chance to touch base with my project supervisor today

i will be meeting with my supervisor tomorrow morning, then giving a short presentation to a group of final year ADSYS students to hopefully get them on board with my research - they'll hopefully be my 'ginuea pigs'

Update No. 6 - slight change of direction

noreply@blogger.com (pravin) — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 14:55:00 +0000

okay... as mentioned in my last update i've decided to change slightly the direction of this project/study - following some feedback from a few useful people whom left comments on this blog.

i've decided to do this for a number of reasons. the main reason being that at present, it appears that i am almost attempting to duplicate what the book 'SSM in Action' by Checkland tries to do.

'SSM in Action' attempts to put SSM in context using case studies to illustrate use of SSM in the real world.

as mentioned already (in my poor chapter 1 - first draft) from my own experiences studying the ADSYS unit, i noticed that students still struggled to get a grasp of SSM, despite books like 'SSM in Action'. this could have been due of a number reasons, one of which might be the 'medium' that was chosen teach/describe SSM. the new direction this study is attempting to look at this...

'the medium that is used to teach/describe SSM'
i.e. books - which rely on the individual interested in learning SSM understanding exactly what is written.

perhaps if the medium that is used to teach/describe SSM (i.e. books) was different, students would get a better grasp of the subject and learn/understand SSM more easily.

would individuals interested in learning SSM, get a better grasp of the subject if the communication medium was different?

i'll leave it there for the time being and elaborate further once i've met with my supervisor on monday.

Update No. 5 (confusion?)

noreply@blogger.com (pravin) — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 17:15:00 +0000

firstly thanks to those who took some time out to read my Chapter 1 (first draft) and either left comments on the blog or gave me feedback in person.

just a couple of things to make clear - that perhaps haven't been made clear enough so far...

1. this blog is being kept separate from the project itself.

i'm using it to track my progress (so to speak) but also make available to you guys currently reading it in the hope to get some feedback on what i'm doing and how the project is progressing. i've only sent this out to a few, but soon i'll hopefully get a chance to post up a recap then make it available to more.
so just to be clear, when i refer to blogs in documents like my first draft i'm not referring to this blog

2. was brought up by someone in the comments on the last update...

that it seems like im attempting to re-create some of Checklands work. especially when you compare what what was described in my Chapter 1 Draft with books like SSM in Action, which does literally does look at SSM in the first part then SSM in Action/Practice; looking at examples of SSM being used.

after reading my first draft again - i do agree it can seem like i'm trying to attempt this. so far my Chapter 1 first draft is quite vague, is a very rough draft that does need revising.

just to make it clear, what should have been described in chapter one was ...

that im essentially researching into the problems students commonly find understanding SSM from the core texts.
then taking my findings and using Case Studies/Real World Examples of SSM being used to 'better' illustrate/describe aspects and areas of SSM which students often strugle with.
My findings from the investigation will help form the artefact - which will assist help students learning SSM.

hopefully thats cleared up a few things?

just to keep you guys informed, i've decided to change the direction a little thanks to some of the feedback i've received on what was just described but also to give the project a little more direction

i'll leave it there for now... and update over the weekend.

Update No. 4 (long overdue update)

noreply@blogger.com (pravin) — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 17:19:00 +0000

apologies... long overdue update

just a quick update to say that i've done a basic first draft on chapert 1 (you can find it on the Right)
and generally things are going a little slow, but okay

the book i mentioned last time (Learning for Action by Checkland and Poulter) i now have along with SSM in Action - just mid way through the first

will make an update before monday with a little more in it.

Updates No. 3 continued...

noreply@blogger.com (pravin) — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 17:05:00 +0000

Firstly, before I continue from where I left off yesterday, I have just learnt of a new book called:
Learning for Action: A Short Definitive Account of Soft Systems Methodology, and Its Use Practitioners, Teachers and Students by Checkland and Poulter.

Which is now currently on my shopping list of books to buy!

Ok, so following on from yesterdays update, my current working project title (though still subject to change) is:

An enquiry into Soft Systems Methodology in Practice – in a real world business setting

The title stems from my interest and intrigue in SSM used in a business setting - outlined in some of my previous posts.

My Proposal

What I propose to do with this project is carry out an analysis on an existing business interested adopting SSM.

I then intend on documenting and publishing the results and outcomes of analysis/investigation in the form of some kind of easily accessible (perhaps web-based) solution aimed at assisting final year Systems Analysis students learning SSM.

Plan A & B

My current strategy in relation to this project involves a Plan A, and a Plan B. Which I feel is necessary due to the specific nature of this project.

Plan A
Involves:

First going out and finding a company currently in the early stages of using/adopting SSM.

Secondly, I would need to get their approval and permission to take part and shadow their practitioners with the running of their project.

In addition, I would ideally need to find a company that is relatively local and I guess in some respects syncs nicely within the time constraints of my project.

As you can imagine, this is going to be a little challenging task – hence the Plan B.

Plan B

So naturally, the Plan B is the backup, in the event that I am unable to find a company.

This Plan B will involve me analysing one or a set of case studies where SSM has been used in business – and again using the outcomes of this analysis and investigation to produce and artefact which will assist final year systems analysis students when learning SSM

Update No. 3

noreply@blogger.com (pravin) — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 00:59:00 +0000

right, today I met with my supervisor. It was very useful, though im a little angry because most of what was discussed is slowly creeping out of my head 8 hours later as I write this update.

Two things im going to need to start doing are:

making updates immediately after each meeting I have with my supervisor

and, im also going to need to start jotting down all the ideas that come into my head as and when they happen – this may mean updating this blog more or perhaps keeping some kind of notebook/journal with me at all times

anyway, back to the update. Like I said this meeting with my supervisor today - really useful…

one of the suggestions was that whenever something comes into my head is to note it down, and document it. Perhaps if its something I need to design, start the design process and knock together a few sketches or whatever.
Practitioners tend not to do this whereas students do (or should do this), as it starts to help form some of the foundations in the framework of the project and eventually – and hopefully - the person reading the report will be able to see where an idea came from and the thought processes behind it will be documented.

This is something im going to need to start doing!

So I turned up to today’s meeting slightly worried and concerned that I still did not have a project idea/proposal. As I’ve been talking about for a while now; I am interested in carrying out some sort of project that looks at SSM in a business setting.

I forgot to mention – which I perhaps should have – that a while back I did a search on Google Blog for SSM and came across a job advertisement in the first few hits; looking for a SSM practitioner with at least 3 years experience to work with a company quite local to me for 3 months

As you can imagine, this got me thinking a little.

“Wouldn’t it be pretty cool if I could perhaps get some real experience and exposure; contact this company (or another company for that matter) and try and get involved.”

Naturally, it then clicked, that it would also be pretty neat if I could perhaps base my project on something like this

After chatting with my supervisor about this – we both agreed that this might be the right move and could make an interesting project.

this has led me to my rather vague working title. which for the time being is:

An enquiry into Soft Systems Methodology in Practice – in a real world business setting

im going to stop here this evening and give another update tomorrow explaining a little further what was discussed in the short meeting with my supevisor today (e.g. my Plan A & B) as it's going to get pretty lengthy if keep typing whilst im this tired

more to come tomorrow...

Update No. 2

noreply@blogger.com (pravin) — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 22:19:00 +0000

Hello again

Apologies, I would have updated sooner but the last few days have been a little hectic.

So, finally I am fully enrolled at university and I have picked up a couple of books from the library:

Soft Systems Methodology in Action (Checkland and Scholes)

Information, Systems and Information Systems (Checkland & Holwell)

Both books based on Systems Analysis and more specifically Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). I read the second (ISIS) around this time last year – it’s a pretty interesting book I guess in a lot of respects aimed kind of business minded people (managers, execs etc).
The first, (SSM in action) I have just started reading.

I’ll keep you guys posted over the next few updates until ive finished reading it. I’m really just reading to brush up my knowledge and pick up on some of the things I didn’t learn the first time around.

Again, still not 100% sure on a project idea – few ideas kicking around – and I’ll have to make some arrangements this week to meet with my supervisor.

I’ll keep this short and hopefully in the next update I’ll have something a little more stimulating to say :)

To Do...

Again arrange to meet with my Project Supervisor

Again, read and brush-up on SSM

Begin putting together that Rich Picture on ME! (including aspects like constraints etc)

Finally to perhaps look at putting a Gantt/time chart and really start thinking about my project spec which will of course need to be done sometime in the very near future

my first 'real' post/update.

noreply@blogger.com (pravin) — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 16:23:00 +0000

Welcome again

Well I'm back at university so-to-speak, enrolled but still can't take out books from the library – so that's hindered me a little in terms of getting on with things – hopefully that'll be sorted by the end of the week.
I'm also working part time for ISO at the university doing a few techy things just to keep me financially stable.

Right so my Final Year Project!

I suppose it would be worth me starting with telling you what it's on, right…

What is it on?

At the moment im still not 100% sure; I have been given two options, I either:
Continue with the project I began during the last academic year, or
Begin a new project and start again fresh from scratch

The likelihood is that i'm going to pick the second…

Like I said, im still not 100% sure what the research question for my project is just yet, I am however interested in relating it to Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and how it can be used in a business setting.

To Do…

In the meantime just to get started I guess my plan of action is:

to first get fully enrolled

brush up on my understanding of SSM

hopefully get together with my project supervisor sometime soon and try and work on getting a suitable research question together.

Then I guess it might also be useful to put together a ‘Rich Picture’ of myself and the year ahead…

more to come

Welcome to my new canvas

noreply@blogger.com (pravin) — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 00:48:00 +0000

this is my new canvas.
well... this is my new blog

if you have managed to find yourself here, it is more than likely because i've invited you, and there is a reason for that.

with my new canvas i aim to log (over the next 9 months) my thoughts and ideas, primarily to successfully complete my final year project at university, but also to get down a few of my general thoughts relevant to my interests; technology, business and innovation.

as some of you might already be aware i had a pretty rough final year at university and because of this have been given an extension on my final year project... one of the main reasons for starting this blog is so i can really make a start on this project and through regular updates on here i will be able to keep track of my progress and hopefully hear some of your thoughts.

as i mentioned, there is a reason why i have invited you here.
i would like you to read my blog, i am interested in your thoughts on what i am doing and i would appreciate and encourage you to please leave comments.

i understand you all lead busy lives, i'm not expecting you to read and comment on all of what i write on here. but i would greatly appreciate if you could just pop by every now and then, and take a look at what i’m up to. you can do this by either bookmarking this page or subscribing to the RSS feed here.

i look forward to hearing from you guys over the coming months.

thanks for visiting my new canvas :)