Viable_System_Model-1989 CwarelInst - Stafford Beer

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Sta fford Beer

The Viab

leSys

tem Model:

its provenance, development,

methodology and pathology

1989

w w w.

managementkybernetik.c

om

Cwarel Isaf Institute


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Stafford Beer: The Viable System Model Cwarel Isaf Institute



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Cwarel Isaf Institute

Contents

Provenance .................................................................................................................................. 3

The methodology of topological maps .................................................................. 5

On mapping and measuring complexity ............................................................... 6

Limitations ................................................................................................................................... 8

The Viable Sytem Model(VSM) ................................................................................. 10

The pathology of the viable system ....................................................................... 11

Appendix 1: The theory of the modelin operation research ............... 14

Appendix 2: Glossary of rules for the viable system ................................. 16

Appendix 3: Some applications of the Viable System Model .............. 17

Referen

c

es ..................................................................................................................................

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andsocialscience, throughtheinventionandstudyof

cybe

rneticm

achines, th

roughthem

athem

atics

ofsets

andstochasticprocesses, andatalltimesthroughthe

ORfieldworkinindustryandgovernment. Thequest

becametoknowhowsystems areviable;thatis, howtheyarecapableofindependentexistence asthedic-

tionaryhasit. Bythetimemyfirst bookonmanage-

mentcyberneticswaspublished, Ihadalsomappeda

set-theoreticmodelofthe brainontoacompanypro-

ducingsteelrods, andpublishedthe basisofthewhole

approach(Beer, 1959, 1960).

Theset-theoreticmodelproveddifficultforpeopleto

understand, andeventuallyastreamlineversionofthe

modelappearedcalledBrainoftheFirm, usingneuro-physiologicalterminologyinsteadofmathematics

(Beer, 1972). Somecommentatorswereoffended by

thisandcalledthemodelanalogical despitemydenials

andexplanations(seelater)thatthiswasso. Hence, in

astilllater bookanewversionoftheVSMwasdevel-

opedfromfirstprinciples, calledTheHeartofEnter-

prise, inthe beliefthatthenecessaryandsufficientcon-

ditionsofviabilityhad bynow beenestablished(Beer,

1979).

TheinvariancesthatIhadfinallyunearthedwerestat-

ed;andthecentralprincipleofrecursion(thateveryviablesystemcontainsandiscontainedinaviablesys-

tem)stooddutyastheexplanationofalltheobserva-

tionalevidencethathad beguntoaccumulatefromthe

militaryexperienceonward. Moreover, Idevelopeda

topologicalversionoftheoriginalset-theoreticalgebra

thatitseemedno-onewouldstudyproperly. Thedraw-

ingswerenowrigorousmathematicsinthemselvesin

thattheyofferedexplicithomomorphicmappingsof

anyoneVSMrecursionontothenext asmay be

seeninthesimplifiedversionatFigure 4. (In 1972 the

drawingshadgivenanindicationoftherecursiontheo-

remandreliedontheindependentlypublishedmathe-

matics.

Throughoutitsdevelopment, andtothisday, theVSM

has beeninaprocessofcontinuoustestingandverifi-

cation. Meanwhile, however, thewholeapproachhad

itsmostsignificantandlarge-scaleapplicationduring

1971-73 inAllendesChile. Asanoutcomeofthis

experience, fivenewchapterswereaddedtoBrain, and

theoverhauledandextendedtextwasrepublished

(Beer, 1981). Thus(thenew)Brain andHeart stand, as

complementaryvolumes, forthetheoryoftheviable

systemanditslawsinmanagementcybernetics, anda

trilogyhas beencompletedwithDiagnosingtheSystem

(Beer, 1985). CommentatorsoftenimplythatIam

obsesse

dwiththism

odel. Well, the

questt

oest

ablish

howsystems areviableandits 30-yearpursuithavecer-

tainly beendemanding. Evenso, thethree booksmen-

tionedareonlythreeoutoften. Thephilosophyofsci-

encethatIwassimultaneouslydevelopingisexpound-

edinDecision andControl, anditisfromthisthatI

drawthefollowingmethodologyandapplyittothe

VSM(Beer, 1966).




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sub-setofN. Nowaninterdisciplinaryteamofscien-

tistscanminimi

zethel

osses

ofm

odelling

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Appendix 2:

Glossary of rules for

the viable system1

Aphorisms

Thefirstregulatory aphorism

Itisnotnecessarytoenterthe blackbox

tounderstandthenature

ofthefunctionitperforms (p.40)

Thesecondregulatory aphorism

Itisnotnecessarytoenterthe blackbox

tocalculatethevariety

thatitpotentiallymaygenerate (p.47)

Principles

ThefirstprincipleoforganizationManagerial, operationalandenvironmentalvari-

eties, diffusingthroughaninstitutionalsystem,

tendtoequate;theyshould bedsignedtodoso

withminimumdamagetopeopleandtocost. (p.97)

Thesecondprincipleoforganization

Thefourdirectionalchannelscarryinginformation

betweenthemanagementunit, theoperation, and

theenvironmentmusteachhaveahighercapacity

totransmitagivenamountofinformationrelevant

tovarietyselectioninagiventimethantheorigi-

natingsubsystemhastogenerateitinthattime.

(p.99)

ThethirdprincipleoforganizationWherevertheinformationcarriedonachannel

capableofdistinguishingagivenvarietycrossesa

boundary, itundergoestransduction;thevarietyof

thetransducermust beatleastequivalenttothe

varietyofthechannel (p.101)

Thefourthprincipleoforganization

Theop

erationof

thefir

stthreeprinci

plesmust be

cyclicallymaintainedthroughtimewithouthiatus

orlags. (p.258)

Theorem

Recursivesystemtheorem

Inarecursiveorganizationalstructure, anyviable

systemcontains, andiscontainedin, aviablesys-

tem (p.118)

Axioms

Thefirst axiomofmanagement

Thesumofhorizontalvarietydisposed bynopera-

tionalelements

equals

thesumofverticalvarietydisposedonthesixverti-

calcomponentsofcorporatecohesion (p.217)

Thesecondaxiomofmanagement

Thevarietydisposed bySystemThreeresulting

fromtheoperationoftheFirstAxiom

equalsthevarietydisposed bySystemFour (p.298)

Thethirdaxiomofmanagement

Thevarietydisposed bySystemFive

equals

theresidualvarietygenerated bytheoperationof

theSecondAxiom (p.298)

Law

Thelawofcohesionformultiplerecursionsoftheviablesystem

TheSystemOnevarietyaccessibletoSystemThree

ofRecursionx

equals

thevarietydisposed bythesumofthemetasystems

ofRecursionyforeveryrecursivepair. (p.355)




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1 ExtractfromTheHeartofEnterpriseBeer, 1979)towhich bookthe

pagenumbersrefer.


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uniqueadvantageofmanagerialinvolvement, andthat

ofRao

ulEliasfor

Gaz

Metropo

litan. D

avid

Beatt

yhas

usedthemodelforeducationalplanninginOntario,

andI believethatithas beeninindependentactionon

theWestCoastaswell(Baker, EliasandGriggs, 1978).

InLatinAmerica, ProfessorJorgeChapiroisaleading

exponentoftheVSMwhoconsultsoverthewhole

spectrumofindustrialandgovernmentalmanagement

inseveralcountries.

InAustralia, applicationsinaninsurancecompany

have beenmade byJ. DonalddeRaadt;inSwitzerland

Dr. PeterGomezhasusedtheVSMinapublishsing

company, makinganinterestingexperimentinmeldingthismethodologywiththerootdefinitionsofProfessor

PeterCheckland(Gomez, 1982). Inwiderfieldsstill

wefindausefulVSMapplicationinFinland byDr. S.

Korolainentoekistics(Korolainen, 1980);andDavid

NoorhaspublishedAviablesystemmodelofscientific

rationalityasaworkingpaperfromtheUniversityof

WesternOntario.

Onthestrictly biologicalside, butnotfromtheorigi-

nalneurophysio-logicalperspective, Dr. RichardFoss

inEnglandhasmademanymappings:forexample, on

theEukaryotecell, theannualplantandthehoneybeecolony. HehasfoundtheVSMtoholdinsuchdiverse

systems;andheisextendingtheworktotheslime

mouldDictyoltelium, tolichensandtovertebrates, con-

sidering boththeevolutionandontogenyofeachsys-

tem.

ItdoesappearthattheVSMhassufficientgeneralityto

justifyitsoriginasanattempttodiscoverhowsystems

areviable;andthatitalsogeneratesconsiderablepower

todescribeandpredict, diagnoseandprescribe. No

systematicarchiveofapplicationshas beenkept:per-

hapsitwould behelpfultostartone. Thesenotesare

compiledfromsuchrecollectionsandrecordsashap-

pento betohand.

References

Ashby, W.R. (1956). IntroductiontoCybernetics.

London:Chapman&Hall.

Baker, W., Elias, R. andGriggs, D. (1978). Managerial

involvementinthedesignofadaptivesystems, in

ManagementHandbookforPublicAdministration

(ed. Sutherland, J.W.). NewYork:VanNostrand

Reinhld.

Beer, S. (1959). CyberneticsandManagement.London:EnglishUniversitiesPress.

Beer, S. (1960). Towardsthecyberneticfactory, in

PrinciplesofSelfOrganization(symposium). Oxford:PergamonPress.

Beer, S. (1965). Theworld, thefleshandthemetal,

Nature, 205, 223-31.

Beer, S. (1966). DecisionandControl. Chichester:John

Wiley.

Beer, S. (1972). BrainoftheFirm. Harmondsworth:

AllanLane.

Beer, S. (1975). PlatformforChange. Chichester:John

Wiley.

Beer, S. (1979). TheHartofEnterprise. Chichester:

JohnWiley.

Beer, S. (1981). BrainoftheFirm, 2nd edn. Chichester:

JohnWiley.

Beer, S. (1983). AreplytoUlrichsCritiqueofpurecyberneticreason:theChileanexperimentwith

cybernetics, JournalofAppliedSystemsAnalysis, 10,

115-19.

Beer, S. (1985). DiagnosingthesystemforOrganizations.JohnWiley.

BrainandStrategy (1983). vol. 4, issue 9.

Capra, F. (1982). TheTurningPoint. NewYork:

BantamBooks.




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Esperjo, R. (1978). Multi-oganizationalstrategies;an

analytic

alframe

workan

dcase, in

Applied

GeneralSystemsResearch:RecentDevelopmentsandTrends

(ed. Klir, G.). NewYork:PlenumPress.

Espejo, R. (1980a). Cyberneticpraxisingovernment:

themanagementofindustryinChile 1970-1973,

JournalofCybernetics, 11, 325-38.

Espejo, R. (1980b). Informationandmanagement:the

cyberneticsofasmallcompany, inTheInformation

SystemsEnvironment (eds. Lucas, H., Land, F., Lincoln,

T. andSupper, K.). Amsterdam:NorthHolland.

Gomez, P. (1982). Systemsmethodologyinaction,JournalofAppliedSystemsAnalysis, 9, 67-85.

Korolainen, S. (1980). OntheConceptualandLogical

FoundationsoftheGeneralTheoryofHumanOrgani-

zations. HelsinkiSchoolofEconomics.

Shannon, C. andWeaver, W. (1949). TheMathema-

ticalTheoryofCommunication. UniversityofIllinois

Press.

Sommerhoff, G. (1950). AnalyticalBiology. London:

OxfordUniversityPress.


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