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Buchrezensionen
Einleitung
Viktor Frankls Sinn
Maliks Management
Drucker's Adventures
Viability of Beer
Hasler in Brasilien
Ideen
Einleitung
Freier Markt
Kybernetik
Lebensphasen
Frühinternet
Besserwisserei
First Thoughts
The Heart of Enterprise
Stafford Beer's viable system model
The term cybernetics could be defined as the art of control over a
(complex) system. Cybernetics is a way to describe, analyze and
cope with the world mankind is producing. The more impact we have on
our environment, the more intricate do the direct and indirect consequences
become. And if we don't want to stumble from one emergency situation to the
next, we better constantly and pro-actively organize the processes to handle
as many of the consequences of our actions as possible. The topic was introduced
and named in the first half of the twentieth century by Norbert Wiener,
an American mathematician.
Mister Beer was the first to introduce the lore of cybernetics to management and organization, while Frederic Vester introduced it to ecology.
This book first lays out some of the abstract notions and foundations
of cybernetics as introduced by Ross Ashby and the author himself, among
others. It then develops the idea of the viable system model, which is Mister
Beer's main product. It describes the properties and the communication channels
of a system whose ultimate goal is to survive.
As the author points out, the model is not a plan according to which to build an organisation or company, but it is a way to look at
it, a new language to analyse it. It is not the "Ten Commandments" which
tell you how to lead a decent life, but rather "Newton's law of gravity"
which explains why your glass falls off the table when you push it far enough.
Just as Newton's law is not necessary to survive but can be useful
to anticipate, plan, or analyse situations, Beer's viable system model is
a tool to increase awareness and clarity in managing or organizing a viable
system. To mention one last parallel, remember George Orwell's "Newspeak"
as invented in his book "1984". The structure of the language itself prevents
the people from even expressing subversive thoughts. When applying the viable
system model - though itself absolutely neutral -, your attention is automatically
focused on the spots relevant to your subject's viability.
The notions introduced at the beginning of this book have influenced my
everyday life from the first moment I have learned about them. They apply
to practically every problem, situation or challenge I run into. Many standard
problems turn perfectly clear and vanish with the use of terms like variety,
variety amplification and attenuation, to mention some.
The viable system model is a powerful tool for analysis, but will
certainly also be a reason to turn cynical in environments where the seriousness
of the state of the organization is only obvious to the open eyes of cybernetics. I am eager myself to explore the possibilities of cybernetics in all my future projects.
The only criticism I could find to the application of the viable system model
is that I suspect many systems (companies, organizations, institutions) are
not intended to be viable, be it deliberately or not. Let me take some time to dwell on this.
The book is about 550 pages heavy, and I would say it requires to be read
entirely, with one exception: If you are not ready for the viable system
itself yet, the introductory "Part One", chapters one through five, will
be enough to open your eyes. If you do have the time to do so, you will be
rewarded by an impressive way of teaching. Of course, a man with many decades
of experience will be able to apply it to his own work. Look at this book
as a viable system itself, and you will have the grounds on which to judge
it.
The book is certainly not suitable for the pragmatic who expects
immediately applicable recipes to success. Though the text is full of illustrative
examples, the concepts are defined and held on a high level of abstraction
and need further contemplation by the reader.
I would definitely read the book again, though it is a dangerous piece of evidence against many terrible ways of the real world.
