Stafford Beer Research Articles

Governance of economic transitions: a case study of Ukraine

PurposeUkraine has had to change in ten years from a strong centrally controlled communist economy to a market economy. It has not been successful. The purpose of this paper is to explain this failure from the complexity management point of view.Design/methodology/approachThis paper takes a cybernetic view of the attempts at Governance in Ukraine over its transition period. To diagnose the problem a novel approach based on the Viable Systems Methodology of Stafford Beer is used.FindingsSerious structural flaws are identified in the organisation of governance at the national level and it is shown how these inadequacies induced the formation of mutant abnormal strategies at the level of economic agents.Practical implicationsPresents credible explanations of phenomena such as barter, corruption, growth of overdue debts and the existence of incentives (other than profit maximizing ones) which drive the behaviour of firms.Originality/valueThere are many explanations of the same phenomena in contemporary economic literature but our explanations are based purely on an analysis of the complexity management tasks performed at each level of recursion: from a government to a firm. Moreover, the paper shows that the structural specificity of a system shapes the behavioural patterns of each systemic element, would it be a government body or a firm's management. Therefore, the notion of structural determinism allows one to state that structure defines the dynamics of any systemic change.

Metasystem transitions in human organizations: a route towards global sustainability

AbstractThis article deals with the problem of understanding the relations between viability and sustainability in the context of social metasystem transitions occurring in a global environment. To this aim the subject of Organizational Synergetics is introduced. A refinement of Stafford Beer's viable system model is proposed and the distinction is made between local sustainability and global sustainability, the latter seen as an undecidable property of the global system comprising both the system in focus and its environment. Finally, based on the concept of a viable holonic network, a strategy and a general heuristics for attaining global sustainability are proposed.

Cybernetics and Participation: From Theory to Practice

A combination of recent cybernetic discourse provides guidelines for reconsidering our way of thinking about the relationship between government and the governed. With reference to contemporary understanding of natural biological systems and complexity, it is possible to reformulate a language that has tended to be dominated by notions of competition and survival of the fittest. Instead we can perhaps move toward reconsidering social systems in terms of a more dynamic and equitable understanding of the “fit” and structural “dance” of different systems, and postulate that the motor for progress is the coexistence of difference rather than “might over right.” This paper synthesizes the somewhat different insights of Stafford Beer and the “Santiago School of Cognition,” and reports on a real-world initiative that sought to instantiate governance as a phenomenon constituted by the governed. Technological developments of the “knowledge age” are proposed as supporting such democratic initiatives.

Peirce and Beer

This paper considers the philosophical background of Stafford Beer's Viable Systems Diagnosis (VSD) as profoundly influenced by Charles Peirce. In a general sense, our work discusses the VSD theory base in the development of a model for actionable theory in organizations. This paper examines VSD theory in the Beer trilogy ‘Brain of the Firm,’ ‘The Heart of the Enterprise’ and ‘Diagnosing the System’ and we propose that a sound set of VSD action principles can be derived from this trilogy. We contend that the philosophical background underpinning these principles is important. Using Beer’s ‘Decision and Control,’ we consider that philosophical background and link Operational Research and the interdisciplinary learning within Cybernetics to modern general systems theory. We explore Beer’s viewpoint on the Peirce depiction of four main methods of fixing belief; tenacity, authority, a priori and finally the scientific to assist in that expansion. We consider how knowledge of Beer’s perspective on making sense of the world is important in the linkage of VSD theory to the managerial problem arena. We relate the Peirce methods to previously reported problem solving exercises involving the VSD ideology, which we will develop individually at a later date. This paper reflects our desire to express the interpretation of VSD theory in a language that the well-informed manager may readily translate into the third step of testing theory in practice.

What are we reading?

As we stated in the last issue of HSM we will review in these columns recent books that have come to our attention. Readers can easily contribute to this dialogue by sending us a few lines on each book that they have read specifying clearly (a) The name of the book (b) The name of the author (c) The name of the publisher (d) The location of the publisher (e) The number of pages in the book (f) The price if available (g) The ISBN Number. Send the reviews to John P. van Gigch, at vang@sonic.net. I was very stimulated to read Karl Wolf’s commentary in HSM (Vol. 24, Number 1, 2005) about Charles Francois’s Second Edition of International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (K.G. Saur Publishers, Munich, 2 volumes. 741 pp., Euro 350, 2004). I reviewed this work for Systems Research and Behavioral Science (Vol. 22(3): 273–276, May–June 2005) and concur in Wolf’s assessment. It is a very big contribution to the systems literature which should be considered by all libraries and by every serious systemicist or cybernetician. I encourage our readers to find a copy and study this work carefully and in detail. As to Karl Wolf’s comments I thought that they were relevant and provide an independent view of Francois’s text. My assessment is biased in that I consider myself a close friend and colleague of the author when we both lived in 1980’s in Argentina. I was interested in Wolf’s comments about how the Encyclopedia could be used. As he stated it is really a “hybrid of encyclopedia-dictionary-glossary-handbook – reference-source book and even a thesaurus”. Today I also want to comment on a bibliography of Norbert Wiener. It is entitled: Dark Hero of the Information Age: In Search of Norbert Wiener The Father of Cybernetics by Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman, Basic Books, New York, 2005, 424 pp., Price $27.50 US, ISBN 0-7382-0368-8. It is a book that took many years in the making and it contains a detailed history of the systems movement in the last decades. As this book reveals, Wiener had an eventful life. Wiener was an important personality and cybernetician. As we all know, he invented the field and the name of the field of Cybernetics. His life is intertwined with that of other famous scientists of his generation such as McCulloch, Von Neumann, Stafford Beer, Margaret Mead, Turing to name a few. When The New York Review of Books devotes a review to a book it is because they consider the author of importance to the general public. And indeed they reviewed this book in New York Review of Books (The Tragic Tale of A Genius by Freeman Dyson, Vol. LII (12), July 14, 2005, pp. 10–13). There is little that we can add to this thorough review except to recommend that our readers read the book. Norbert Wiener was controversial in his private life as well as his scientific career. He remains a stellar figure among the scientists who started System Science and Cybernetics, of course. There is still much to learn from this account of his achievements as well as his failures and disappointments. As the cover of the text points out: “Conway and Siegelman set out to explore the many ways in which his revolutionary ideas continue to shape our lives”. The authors also state that “what Norbert Wiener invented has only grown in significance”. He popularized the notion of feedback and was a precursor for what we call nowadays “smart” technology and the Information Age. He warned us of the dangers inherent in new electronic and biological technologies that could exceed human control. “The story of this brilliant, multitalented man is fundamental to an understanding of the intersection of technology and culture in the twenty-first century”. We agree. Finally, for this issue of HSM, I would like to bring to the attention of readers books by Michael Ruse. Each of us have an opinion of the EvolutionCreationism controversy. It pits those of us who believe Darwin’s theory is still the best scientific explanation of the beginning of the world as we know it, and the so-called creationists who adhere to a biblical

From Cybernetics and VSD to Management and Action

This paper uses Stafford Beer's Viable Systems Diagnosis (VSD) to suggest that the development of a model for actionable theory in organizations would take the form of a three-step process. The first step involves the definition and explanation of an appropriate theory base, the second theory interpretation into a coherent set of action principles and the third contextual action in organizations. We contend that even for a well-informed and widely read manager gleaning the theoretical basis for this process from the recognized Beer trilogy “Brain of the Firm,” “The Heart of the Enterprise” and “Diagnosing the System” is difficult to justify in terms of time, understanding, and action. We maintain that a sound set of action principles emanating from Beer's primary work must be considered before tackling the noted trilogy. We use Beer's initial text “Cybernetics and Management” to trace some fundamental operational research and the interdisciplinary tripartite science of cybernetics. We commence our action model process with some introductory thoughts into operational research, cybernetics, VSD, and contextual action. Our first step toward action involves some primary definitions and principles of cybernetic theory and the prospect of controlling overwhelming variety. Our second step provides our set of coherent potential action principles fundamental to cybernetic theory. The paper is written in a journalistic rather than academic style reflecting the need to couch the interpretation of the theory in a language that the well-informed manager may readily translate into third step contextual practice.

Stafford Beer in memoriam – “An argument of change” three decades on

Purpose – This paper is written in memory of the late Stafford Beer. The paper engages with only one dimension of the whole man: Stafford Beer as the diagnostician and prognostician of the social conditions that he so keenly observed.Design/methodology/approach – The paper revisits a talk that Stafford Beer gave, over three decades ago, to administrators of the UK National Health Service (NHS). It uses the content of the talk, entitled “Health and Quiet Breathing”, to diagnose the problems that have been encountered in the development of NHS information management strategies. The paper concludes with some brief personal recollections of Stafford Beer as a friend and as a teacher.Findings – The paper finds Stafford Beer's managerial cybernetics to be a useful tool in understanding many of the problems that have beset NHS information management strategies: lack of operational research, problems in the commodification of information, financial scandal, and bureaucracy. In its examination of these issues, the...

Fighting for science

What deliverables did Stafford Beer envision when he developed his “science of effective organisation”? This paper answers this question as: the organisations that use the distinctions of Beer's viable system model. Such organisations are part of daily life, but develop to become knowledge by continuously striving to identify experiences that falsify their existence. They will be irreducible in the sense that any acceptable model of the organisation will be the organisation itself. The notion of knowledge involved is made explicit in the paper as a tribute to Stafford Beer's pioneering work. It allowed Stafford Beer to introduce and develop insights that began to be developed by others only much later.

Tigers at play: Stafford Beer's poetry

Considers Stafford Beer as a poet. Discusses Beer's interest in a wide variety of poetic forms. Gives some technical examples of how Beer employed Welsh and Sanskrit metre and rhythm to writing in English. Also includes a translation from the Spanish; a ballade and selections from his longest poem One Person Metagame.

Erratum

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/03684929610149620. When citing the article, please cite: Stafford Beer, (1996), “Man in a garrulous silence”, Kybernetes, Vol. 25 Iss: 7/8, pp. 14 - 31.

City planning

Urban development in fast‐growing cities is one of the huge challenges of our time, and several projects of technical cooperation are dedicated to this issue. The aim of this paper is to help project managers to enhance their capability of dealing effectively with the formidable complexities inherent in this kind of project. For this purpose, we explore the potential of Organizational Cybernetics and Social Systems Theory in a relatively new area of application. We have developed a set of conceptual tools that are helpful in coping with dynamic complexity in change and development projects. These tools have in common an inherent logic deriving to a great extent from Stafford Beer's Viable System Model and the St Gall framework for systemic management. The application of the tools is illustrated by a state‐of‐the‐art case study from the realm of Technical Co‐operation – the revision of the Urban Master Plan for the City of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. However, the toolkit is in principle also applicable to any complex project of change or development.

Heinz and Stafford

In June 1996, Stafford Beer and Heinz von Foerster were invited to Colombia to contribute to a number of events, among others to a symposium about second‐order auditing organized by the National Controller's Office of Colombia in Cartagena de Indias. As part of the occasion, they visited Mompox, a colonial town in the delta of the Magdalena river. During that trip, the author met Stafford and from there on she developed a special relationship with him, similar to that she already had with Heinz. The sad death of both great men of cybernetics within a short period of time was the origin of this tribute.

Erratum

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/03684920110391779. When citing the article, please cite: Stafford Beer, (2001), “A filigree friendship”, Kybernetes, Vol. 30 Iss 5/6 pp. 551 - 560.

The market economy unchecked

A case is made that the market economy imposes constraints and makes demands that mirror the rigidity of fundamentalist religions and that this makes answering one fundamentalism with another more likely. The denial of the world's complexity, the dismissal of the suffering of those not among the select and the obliviousness to other perspectives that characterize fundamentalist economics or religion, create a dangerous situation for all. Systems models and tools, created by Stafford Beer and many others, provide practical means to address complexity and to achieve a fair balance of stakeholder needs and interests. These tools, and the holistic philosophy underpinning them, can and should be applied to questions of public importance. To do so, we have to follow the footsteps of Stafford Beer and other pioneers in the systems and cybernetics field.

Erratum

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/eb005989. When citing the article, please cite: Stafford Beer, (1993), “World in Torment: A Time Whose Idea Must Come”, Kybernetes, Vol. 22 Iss: 6, pp. 15 - 43.

Erratum

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/03684929410068299. When citing the article, please cite: Stafford Beer, (1994), “Knowing Norbert”, Kybernetes, Vol. 23 Iss: 6/7, pp. 17 - 20.

Erratum

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/03684920210417283. When citing the article, please cite: Stafford Beer, (2002), “What is cybernetics?”, Kybernetes, Vol. 31 Iss: 2, pp. 209 - 219.

Sequences of failure in complex socio‐technical systems

This paper reviews the framework proposed by Stafford Beer in his seminal work, Decision and Control, first published in 1966, and argues that these ideas are centrally relevant to a topic on which research interest has developed subsequently, the study of crises, catastrophes and disasters in complex socio‐technical systems in high technology sectors. The problems are not discussed simply in terms of system parameters like variety, redundancy and complexity. Much empirical research supports the view that these systems typically operate in degraded mode. Such variables as hierarchical position, actors' motivations and intentions are relevant to explain the ways in which communication systems typically operate to filter out messages from lower participants and to ignore the “soft signals” from small‐scale and intermittent malfunctions.

Erratum

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/eb005900. When citing the article, please cite: Stafford Beer, (1991), “Reflections of a Cybernetician on the Practice of Planning”, Kybernetes, Vol. 20 Iss: 6, pp. 8 - 13.

The footprint of complexity: the embodiment of social systems

This paper deals with organisational complexity, seen from the perspective of its unfolding from global to local concerns. Historically, this unfolding has produced rigid social systems, where those in power positions have forced unfair constraints over the majorities at the local level, and often excluded them. There is a need to move towards flexible, fair, social systems, inclusive in character. This transformation requires an increasing appreciation of communication problems in society and the embodiment of effective social systems. This transformation is presented as a problem‐solving paradigm which requires social systems with capacity to create and produce their own meanings, with capacity to manage necessary structural couplings among existing social systems, thus making this management a heuristic to produce necessary social differentiation to overcome communication failures among existing self‐producing, operationally closed, social systems. A key construct used in this paper to practically produce this management is the viable system model, developed by Stafford Beer.