SODA & CM
Definitions
SODA: aka Strategic Options Development and Analysis, it is a framework for “designing problem solving interventions” using cognitive mapping.
CM: aka Cognitive Mapping, is a modelling technique to represent a problem space by a series of interconnected casual maps.
Purpose
SODA enables a group or individual to construct a graphical representation of a problematic situation, and thus explore options and their ramifications with respect to a complex system of goals or objectives. It helps groups to arrive at a negotiated agreement about how to act to resolve the situation based on CM.
It tends to generate increasingly rich models, rather than move towards abstraction or simplicity.
And it sees strategic management in terms of changing thinking and action rather than planning.
Furthermore, it aims to develop high levels of ownership for a problem through the attention paid to problem definition and negotiation.
Etc.
General steps 1. Planning meetings: Where the project is set up and an initial view of the problem / situation is achieved. At this point it is important to decide who the participants will be and what the outputs will be in order to manage expectations. 2. Client interviews: Here the key people involved with the issue are interviewed, in a relaxed format, for an hour or so to obtain their individual views of the problem area / situation. 3. Development of causal maps: Causal mapping is used to get depict the interviewee’s perception of the situation. 4. Check-back interviews: To check with the interviewees that the causal maps have correctly interpreted their views. If not, they are modified until they are a true representation. 5. Merging the maps: The individual maps are combined to form a single map. 6. Presentation: Both the individual and combined maps are presented to the participants, and the merged map is worked on until everyone finds it acceptable. This is best done on a computer with projector, or using several computers and appropriate software. This allows the whole group to understand all the viewpoints and to have ownership of the final map. 7. Interpret the map in terms of goals, strategies and tactics: The completed, agreed, map can be used to determine the; * High level goals – these are usually where the causal arrow-heads that emerge from the map but don’t go any further. * Medium level strategies - these are generally the factors that feed in more or less directly to the goals. * Low level tactics and operational targets - these are typically the activities that feed into the medium level strategies. They are often located at where causal arrows tend to come in from the wider environment. 8. Action selection, allocation and implementation: Now that the goals, strategies and targets have been determined, these need to be allocated to people for implementation
Advantages
* Evaluating and measuring the outcomes of interventions; * Establishing the key craft skills used by the process facilitator and understanding how these can be transferred across practitioners; * Process management of distributed and asynchronous workshops (different time, different place); * Appreciation of the concept and dynamic of shared space; * Appreciation of the trade-offs between process-orientated and structure-orientated models, particularly as the approach is applied increasingly in engineering; * An understanding of the nature of formalisms; * Extracting lessons from the workshop format that are applicable for the meeting environment. * Understanding how PSMs can be applied to large group facilitation; and * Incorporation of bargaining into the methodology.
Disadvantages