Stafford Beer was quite a character. I got a better sense of who he was from reading (see below) “Think before you Think” and “Stafford Beer: A Personal Memoir” (correspondence between the two re finding & buying books, various authors’ ideas, etc.). It seems his once online Wizard Prang is now available only in fragments, for instance, from Chapter 2.

He gave a series of lectures in the “Falcondale Collection“. There are links to digitized videos (MP4) and transcripts (PDF). I’ve put the following together (with links to the videos and PDF transcripts) to save some of the work of figuring out what’s there. The descriptions come from README file on that page.

  1. The History & Origins of Cybernetics, Part 1 [PDF]
    In this first session, Stafford explains what cybernetics is really about. He tells the story of how it all began by relating extraordinary stories about extraordinary people. The dangers of reductionist thinking are discussed and contrasted with the counter balancing holistic view that provides synergy. Specific attention is given to the distinctive quality of interdisciplinary thinking, to the concept of intrinsic regulation as the whole essence of cybernetics and the answer to why so many social systems fail.
  2. The History & Origins of Cybernetics, Part 2 [PDF]
    Session two continues the story of the development of cybernetics; introducing the key English characters of the 1950s and 1960s when Stafford himself became a key player. It provides a vivid account of what innovative scientists are really like.
  3. Complexity & the Measure of Variety [PDF]
    Session 3 begins with the question of measurement, and how we choose what to measure. The measures that we have are not always relevant, as they are usually based on linear concepts not on systemic ones. Ahsby’s definition and use of the word Variety is introduced and used as a measure of complexity. Variety therefore becomes the focus for this session.
  4. Homeostasis & Viability [PDF]
    Session 4 begins with discussion of examples of requisite variety taken from the morning’s newspaper articles. Examples include terrorism, the police, fighting inflation, newspapers with declining readership, conflict in Rwanda, and a British Rail strike. The concepts of intrinsic control and homeostat are introduced with illustrations and examples. Stafford encourages the audience to examine the nature of viability systems.
  5. The Elemental Organisational Unit [PDF]
    The fifth session starts with agreement on the teams who will model the viability of selected activities; these are retailing, education, manufacturing, Welsh parliament and transport. Stafford models Defence as a total system to illustrate how you identify the active components of a viable system. Stafford advocates that managers should be measuring things that would detect instability and using computers to communicate these messages in real time.
  6. The Horizontal and Vertical Variety Balance [PDF]
    The sixth session extends the basic model of management, operations and environment; called System One, to the general case where you have multiple System Ones with their own distinctive focus. Attention switches to the issue of how these need to be connected so that the whole enterprise fulfils its purpose.
  7. The Viable System Model ‘The Inside & Now‘ [PDF]
    Session 7 begins with the discussion of how the teams are modelling their System One and organisational recursions. Significant time is used to review this stage of modelling, reflecting the importance of defining a System Ones as they deliver the total system purpose. However, Systems One alone would not be sufficient to account for the total system viability. The remaining types of sub-system, Systems 2,3,4 and 5 are now added to the basic model and related to common management activities such as audits, resource allocation, scheduling, strategy and corporate planning.
  8. The Viable System Model ‘The Outside & Then’ [PDF]
    Having fully specified the ‘inside now’ session 8 switches to the complementary ‘outside and then’. This is represented by the meta-system comprising systems 3,4, and 5. within this, the system3/4 homeostat is highlighted for special attention. Stafford reports that every major business failure that he has come across, is in some way deeply dependent on the failure of this homeostat.
  9. Syntegration [PDF]
    The final session covers two topics. Firstly, Stafford completes the discussions of viability with reference to the work of Humberto Maturana and the concept autopoiesis which literally translates as ‘to make yourself’. The process of autopoietic homeostasis, allows an organisation to maintain its identity whilst experiencing changes in the structure, appearance etc.

Others have done a better job of capturing bits of his life that I could, for instance Kate Shrewsday or metaphorum. One aspect of his Viable System Model that I find unique among the various systems models I’ve studied is that it’s recursive. The basic components of a system are themselves systems in a smaller realm. A “Viable System” is one which can exhibit the “requisite variety” necessary to maintain an independent, sustained existence in some environment.
Brain of the Firm and The Heart of Enterprise approach the Viable System from two directions. Diagnosing the System for Organizations is a smaller book that covers the same ground in less detail.

Bibliography

By Stafford Beer

  • Designing Freedom. CBC Publications, 1974; House of Ananasi Press Limited, 1993. ISBN: 0-88784-547-9
  • Platform for Change. John Wiley & Sons, 1975. ISBN: 0-471-06189-1
  • Brain of the Firm, Second Edition. John Wiley & Sons, 1981. ISBN: 0-471-27687-1
  • The Heart of Enterprise. John Wiley & Sons, 1979. ISBN: 0-471-27599-9
  • Diagnosing the System for Organizations. John Wiley & Sons, 1985. ISBN: 0-471-90675-1
  • Beyond Dispute: The Invention of Team Syntegrity. John Wiley & Sons, 1994. ISBN: 0-471-94451-3
  • Think before you Think: Social Complexity and Knowledge of Knowing. Edited by David Whittaker, Foreword by Brian Eno. Wavestone Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780954519469

About Stafford Beer & his ideas

  • The Viable System Model: Interpretations and Applications of Stafford Beer’s VSM, Edited by Raúl Espejo and Roger Harnden. John Wiley & Sons, 1989. ISBN: 0-471-92288-9
  • Stafford Beer: A Personal Memoir, by David Whittaker. Wavestone Press, 2003. ISBN: 0954519418