E3. SiD Planning

SiD planning integrates three complementary approaches: top-down planning, bottom-up innovation, and symbiotic design. Each approach has strengths and limitations, and combining them produces the most robust and implementable plans.

Top-down planning starts with the system-level vision and works downward through the SNO hierarchy. It sets the overall direction, defines system boundaries, and establishes the RAH indicators that will measure success. This approach ensures strategic coherence but can miss ground-level realities.

Bottom-up innovation starts with the objects and relationships already present in the system. It identifies opportunities, constraints, and existing dynamics that any plan must work with. This approach is grounded in reality but can lack strategic direction.

Symbiotic planning brings these together. It uses the top-down vision to guide bottom-up innovation, and uses bottom-up insights to refine the top-down goals. The result is a plan that is both strategically coherent and practically implementable. SiD's iterative method cycles through these perspectives multiple times, deepening understanding with each pass.