Soft systems methodology provides a framework for structuring, analyzing, and solving problems in systems that involve people. It integrates logical, cultural, and political analyses of a problem situation in order to imagine, discuss, and then implement actions to improve the situation, with the consensus of the participants. Soft systems methodology is used primarily by managers and consultants working on technical or organizational problems; it has proved particularly useful in the Information Technology/Information Systems sector.

Peter Checkland developed soft systems methodology because classic systems engineering and systems analysis (hard systems methodologies), which work excellently in many engineering situations, often disappoint in management situations. Hard systems methodologies are well-suited for designed systems where the task of the analyst is to find the most efficient means of reaching a well-defined goal, but they cannot deal with the cultural and social dimensions in what Checkland terms human...