Method Overview

The SiD Method in Five Steps

The SiD method is a practical way of finding pathways towards sustainable systems in five steps. It is usually practiced as part of a larger SiD Process, but can also be executed on its own.

The Holiday Analogy

Imagine you are planning a journey to an "ideal place" with few resources and little time:

Step 1 -- Goals & Indicators: Think about what you mean by "ideal place" and determine the destination.

Step 2 -- System Mapping: Investigate your environment to make a map of your surroundings, which will help plot your route.

Step 3 -- System Understanding: Study the map, figure out where you are, and where your destination lies in relation to your position.

Step 4 -- Solutioning & Roadmapping: Plot routes to your destination, taking care to pass important landmarks and avoiding trouble.

Step 5 -- Evaluate & Iterate: Check if you are actually going where you said you wanted to go, in the time and means available.

As in any journey, this process is repeated several times -- revised as you travel along. This is what we mean by an iterative process.

Better Together

The method can be executed by a single person, but it is intended for use with a diverse team of scientists, designers, and managers. Multidisciplinary collaboration is essential for a well-rounded perspective. The method works best when all experts are present from the start and agree on goals and vision jointly, including stakeholders.

Round and Round We Go

The method is iterative and cyclical. For any given question, the five steps are cycled through several times, starting from rough analysis and solutions to more refined ones. The method does not have a defined start -- it is not necessary to begin at Step 1, but all five steps need to be cycled through eventually.

The method may even be applied to its own steps. For example, you can apply the entire method cycle to the process of "goal setting" -- setting a goal of finding the right goals, then mapping possible goals, understanding them, developing solutions for good goals, and evaluating those goals.

Cycling the Method

The method works best when repeated several times. The first cycles function as a quick survey of the entire challenge, and subsequent cycles refine analysis, understanding, and solutions. We generally recommend at least three cycles.

Do the first cycle quickly -- almost as fast as you can, maybe in a few hours, with the entire team. In this reconnaissance cycle, the team becomes acquainted with the method and the major outlines of the project. Each subsequent cycle goes deeper with more time, more refined research, adjusted goals, and better solutions.

A useful planning pattern is the Fibonacci Sequence: if the first cycle takes 1 day, the second also takes 1 day, the third takes 2 days, the fourth 3 days, the fifth 5 days, and so on. This natural proportioning scales well for projects of any duration.

Make It Your Own

Feel free to adapt the method to your own vocabulary or approach. Steps are often repeated as understanding grows and the project focus shifts. Use it the way it works best for you, experiment with it, but always include each step and keep iterating.