Viable System
The Viable System Model – Part 2
Science has sought the ultimate source of energy in the physics of the sun itself . . . the hydrogen-helium fusion. Science now seeks the ultimate source of control, in the cybernetics of natural…
Science has sought the ultimate source of energy in the physics of the sun itself … the hydrogen-helium fusion. Science now seeks the ultimate source of control, in the cybernetics of natural processes … the brain itself.
Cybernetics and Management, Stafford Beer, 1959
The Viable System Model - System 2
As an organization grows in size and complexity, more processes are involved, and more management functions are needed to make sure they are being appropriately managed:
If the organization above has a surviving identity or is capable of independent existence, we can assume that this organization is a Viable System.
Viable system
A system capable of independent existence.Stafford Beer
However, it is worth mentioning that this independence is not absolute since no living being is absolutely independent. Therefore, independence is a very subtle and sophisticated notion and has been used here with some degree of tolerance and leniency.
Each management process deals with its own horizontal variety in its own process, and there is nothing to ensure that whatever one does is coherent with what the other is doing.
As an example, if the Financial Manager maxims his efficiency by reducing the total number of items being held in the inventory to near zero, this limits the ability of the Sales Manager to maxim his objective by selling items to every customer as soon as they ask for it and not making them wait for the items to get produced and delivered in due course.
Should these multiple lines of management-process-environment act as an integrated organization, someone should be there to manage the vertical variety between these multiple management functions.
Horizontal managers need their ‘autonomy’ to exercise their requisite variety to effectively deal with the exceeding variety of their processes; however, it comes to mind that we might need a ‘System 2’ to, in turn, control the variety vertically, and to somehow control the different processes.
If ‘System 2’ creates some rules to ensure the cohesion of the whole system, it will, eventually, reduce the variety of horizontal management processes. Every rule will create boundaries, a set of Do’s and Don’ts, which will interfere with the autonomy of the horizontal management processes, therefore impeding their ability to deal with their own variety.
These horizontal managers need maximum autonomy to handle the ever-increasing variety of complex processes in related environments. And yet, by introducing ‘System 2’, we have effectively reduced this autonomy that they need immensely!
Important
Therefore, to ensure viability, the organization should be aware of the outcomes of improper attenuation of the variety on this vertical axis.
If variety is reduced too much, the horizontal managers will lose their ability to effectively manage their own processes, and if it is reduced not enough, the cohesion of the whole organization will be at risk.
System 2 provides a ‘service’ to ensure cohesion and that activities are aligned.
Ensure Cohesion
The delicate point here is understanding that system 2’s purpose is to ensure cohesion, not to ‘control’ and become a massive bureaucracy.
System 2 exists to coordinate activities in System 1, manage conflicts between System 1 elements, and implement decisions regarding common resources, services, and information.