Communicating strategic intent with systemigrams: Application to the network-enabled challenge

The U.K. Ministry of Defense (MoD) has mandated the development of a network enabled capability (NEC) across all of defense, aimed at producing agile military and nonmilitary effects via a network of networks. This paper provides an overview of NEC, representing it as a complex human activity system of systems (SoS), analysis of which cannot rely on purely traditional reductionist engineering approaches, requiring instead a soft-systems engineering approach. A literature review is then provided, covering nontraditional systems methodologies of the past 25 years, highlighting the more recent trend towards multimethodological practice. The paper introduces the systemic diagram, or systemigram, conceptual model, explaining its evolution from a form of visual language to its use as an appreciative learning system in a soft-systems methodology. Using the written prose of MoD policy makers, a systemigram model is constructed which represents the NEC concept, providing a systemic visualization of its complexity and an elucidation of the key SoS attributes of emergence, hierarchy, and boundary. Finally, the NEC systemigram is used in an example storyboarding technique, demonstrating its utility as a platform for stakeholder dialog leading towards a refined model that reflects a deeper understanding of NEC strategy. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng 10:309–322, 2007

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