System-of-Interest

A system-of-interest is any thing that one or more stakeholders (Person) wants to focus their attention on through the lens of a system body of knowledge. The thing that is in focus as the system-of-interest is identified by a set of stakeholders. The system-of-interest is a concrete system based upon the abstract system class.

The thing may not know it is being seen as a system-of-interest. Any-thing can be considered a system-of-interest. The thing knowledge base and the system knowledge base are both applicable to conversations about the thing as a system-of-interest.

Stakeholder / Concern

Once we have identified a thing as a system-of-Interest, we can also identify people who have an interest in the system-of-interest. These people are generally known as Stakeholders or Observers or the observed.

When people are included in the concepts of a system-of-interest, we begin to integrate the concepts of living systems that include the person as a system and the social system. The stakeholders bring the following to the concepts of a system-of-interest:

• their skills, knowledge and experience related to the system-of-Interest.

• their perceptions of the current state of the system and any systemic problems

• Their perception of the future state of the system and any viable system solutions.

• Their values and beliefs about the system that may shape the purpose and outcomes.

• Their understanding of the system based upon their role when interacting with the system-of-interest.

• Stakeholders may be asked to make decisions about the state of a system-of-interest.

The importance of including these stakeholders in the understanding of the system-of-interest will be shown when gaining a shared understanding of a system.

System Breakdown Structure

The structure of a system-of-interest uses the following System Breakdown Structure pattern. The following picture highlights the system-of-interest structure using holon. to reference a simple system pattern.

The system-of-interest uses an abstract system pattern that may form a hierarchy of system elements and system patterns. A system element that is also a system in its own right is called a 'holon'.

Any system that is a part of the system-of-interest may also become a system-of-interest for a different set of stakeholders. The abstract system pattern is a fractal pattern that is also recursive.

The abstract system conceptual model used in this system description is shown in the System Structure Section.