Social change depends on communications. The more effective the mechanisms of communication between the participants in a situation are, the more likely it is that they will contribute, to the best of their abilities, to the discovery and production of desirable charge. Hence the relevance of studying, and improving, the cybernetics of problem situations. Effectiveness in this case is defined by the degree to which the complexity of the situation is matched by the complexity of the regulatory mechanisms in use. However, for this proposition to be useful, it is necessary to have approaches to work out the matching. This paper discusses a cybernetic methodology, relying on Beer's Viable System Model, that enables deeper understanding of and capacity to deal with situational and regulatory complexities. Finally, these ideas are used to reflect on the cybernetic intervention in Chile in the early 1970s.