Agency and Causal Factors in Social System Behavior: Advancing Human Systems Engineering with General System Theory

Abstract

In spite of significant advances in technology in today’s world, our large social systems are marked by increasing social decline. A human systems paradigm can inform and be informed by analysis and clarification of the hard facts of our soft social systems. This chapter aims to identify the flaws in practice and theory underlying our current social systems, and then correct them using a wider knowledge base gathered from relevant disciplines. Updated theory is that agency of organization behavior is not in the leader, nor the worker, but in both. Each system member learns and performs according to his/her own willingness and ability, resulting in almost infinite variability. Thus, a new provide/pickup paradigm is proposed. The leader’s role is to provide input, resources, and tasks; the learner/worker role is to pickup input, each at his/her own rate. In large social systems, important input is beyond the pickup range of individuals. User-designed, ideal-based automated social control systems are proposed to allow organizations and system members to flourish.