Disclaimer
This is not intended to be an introduction to or commentary on
Beer's work. I believe that the nature of management has changed
with the introduction of the personal computer and will change even
more radically with the use of networked computers. Therefore, I
have adapted Beer's work to fit the new organizational reality.
Beer's Viable System Model
Note to those who know the VSM: This language is a way
tostart talking specifically about learning in organizations and
organizational change based on the VSM. It is important to stress
the fact that the things which Beer calls systems are actually
functions of all systems. (Beer himself is clear on this.)
This is why he insists that the system as a whole is recursive.
People tend to associate boxes and systems with organizational
entities and to confound them with the organizational chart. (I am
not saying that Beer intends that they be confused just that they
are in practice) In order to make the transition from Beer's
notation to this notation I have tried to use shapes which reflect
the original. Thus, system one is :...: rectangle, three star is *
star, two is /\ triangle, three is # box, four is {~} cloud, five
has no shape association in Beer's scheme, I have made it a [H]
hexagon because it is a many faceted shape. I would suggest calling
the functions by their iconic descriptor - rectangle, star,
triangle, box, cloud, and hex.
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