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
powerduet
oB
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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)
Stafford Beer: The Viable System Model Cwarel Isaf Institute
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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.
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Beer, S. (1985). DiagnosingthesystemforOrganizations.JohnWiley.
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Capra, F. (1982). TheTurningPoint. NewYork:
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