Critical Systems Heuristics

Critical System Heuristics (CSH) provides a framework of questions about a program including what is (and what ought to be) its purpose and its source of legitimacy and who are (and who ought to be) its intended beneficiaries. CSH, as developed by Werner Ulrich and later elaborated upon in collaboration with Martin Reynolds, is an approach used to surface, elaborate, and critically consider boundary judgments, that is, the ways in which people/groups decide what is relevant to the system of interest (any situation of concern). CSH is concerned not only with purposive evaluation, where the system or project has a predefined goal and the focus lies in evaluating the means of reaching it, but also more broadly with purposeful evaluation, where both the means and the ends become subjects of inquiry. CSH rests on the foundations of systems thinking and practical philosophy, both of which emphasize the 'infinite richness' of the real world. In this view, understandings of any situation are inherently incomplete, and therefore based on the selective application of knowledge. By systematically questioning the sources of motivation, control, expertise, and legitimation in the system of interest, CSH allows users to make their boundary judgments explicit and defensible. The immediate goal of a CSH evaluation is to elaborate multiple perspectives on a given situation, but the broader aim is to share these perspectives and thereby cut down on actors 'talking past' each other by promoting mutual understanding.