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Diagnosing the System for Organizations
"Stafford Beer is undoubtedly among the world?s most provocative, creative, and profound thinkers on the subject of management, and he records his thinking with a flair that is unmatched. His writing is as much art as it is science. He is the most viable system I know."
― Dr Russell L Ackoff , The Institute for Interactive Management, Pennsylvania, USA. "If ... anyone can make it [Operations Research] understandably readable and positively interesting it is Stafford Beer ... everyone in management ... should be grateful to him for using clear and at times elegant English and?even elegant diagrams."
― The Economist In Brain of the Firm and The Heart of Enterprise Stafford Beer worked out the scientific laws that govern any viable system. They constitute the basis for this book which is concerned solely with the application of those laws to the understanding of any particular enterprise. In the form of a Handbook or Manager's Guide, Diagnosing the System deals with the fundamental problem of management?how to cope with complexity itself. It shows you how to design (or redesign) an enterprise in conformity with the laws of viability, and will help you to diagnose faults in your organizational structure.
― Dr Russell L Ackoff , The Institute for Interactive Management, Pennsylvania, USA. "If ... anyone can make it [Operations Research] understandably readable and positively interesting it is Stafford Beer ... everyone in management ... should be grateful to him for using clear and at times elegant English and?even elegant diagrams."
― The Economist In Brain of the Firm and The Heart of Enterprise Stafford Beer worked out the scientific laws that govern any viable system. They constitute the basis for this book which is concerned solely with the application of those laws to the understanding of any particular enterprise. In the form of a Handbook or Manager's Guide, Diagnosing the System deals with the fundamental problem of management?how to cope with complexity itself. It shows you how to design (or redesign) an enterprise in conformity with the laws of viability, and will help you to diagnose faults in your organizational structure.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 18, 2015
I read it once. I read it twice. Then I read some of his other books. I'm now reading it again and for the first time everything clicks. Not because it is not well written, but because the ideas are very much at odds to some of the ideas we're used to. I firmly believe however, that Beer's ideas are better in many respects than the more orthodox theories.
July 17, 2023
Diagnosing the System for Organizations is a booklet or manual that develops a method for modelling the VSM of an organization as described in Beer's two previous books: Brain of the Firm and The Heart of Enterprise.
On its own, this book would be rather incomprehensible and sketchy. Not only because it is devoid of any thorough cybernetic introduction, but also because publisher John Wiley did a poor job at editing the reprint. The text makes references to red and black figures, yet all illustrations are black, leaving the reader to decipher Beer's instructions. On top of that, the prose reads as if it was written by an angry Stafford Beer, borderline pedantic.
I picked this up right after finishing the Brain book, so at least I could say I was prepared to read it. As much as I wanted to like it, I have to admit that this title is underwhelming. For those readers who are familiar with Beer's work, there's some value in getting a copy of this as they'll learn a method to the develop the Viable System Model of an organization. But this is not as thorough as his other works.
On its own, this book would be rather incomprehensible and sketchy. Not only because it is devoid of any thorough cybernetic introduction, but also because publisher John Wiley did a poor job at editing the reprint. The text makes references to red and black figures, yet all illustrations are black, leaving the reader to decipher Beer's instructions. On top of that, the prose reads as if it was written by an angry Stafford Beer, borderline pedantic.
I picked this up right after finishing the Brain book, so at least I could say I was prepared to read it. As much as I wanted to like it, I have to admit that this title is underwhelming. For those readers who are familiar with Beer's work, there's some value in getting a copy of this as they'll learn a method to the develop the Viable System Model of an organization. But this is not as thorough as his other works.
February 21, 2024
Besides Designing Freedom, this is the place to start with Beer's work. Written as an educational tool for managers, Diagnosing the System puts forward many of his key ideas about the viable system model in an easy to understand form. He holds your hand through the process of understanding some of the more complicated ideas by making you do exercises with your 'system in focus' in mind. If you put in the work, you will be able to understand what he's getting at with all these funny diagrams, and how the VSM differs radically from traditional hierarchical structures.
Where the book goes awry is in its appeal to capitalist structures. This is a book for managers, after all, written for the purpose of exploiting better. However, you can read between the lines. Beer puts forward a theory of autonomy that is worth the price of admission alone. He claims that due to a metasystem's inability to have the variety to match its operational units, we get the seeds of a decentralized society. He explicitly says a theory of autonomy begins here, and not with political theory. Whether that's true or not, one has to consider the organizational implications of emancipation, as they certainly won't sort themselves out.
Where the book goes awry is in its appeal to capitalist structures. This is a book for managers, after all, written for the purpose of exploiting better. However, you can read between the lines. Beer puts forward a theory of autonomy that is worth the price of admission alone. He claims that due to a metasystem's inability to have the variety to match its operational units, we get the seeds of a decentralized society. He explicitly says a theory of autonomy begins here, and not with political theory. Whether that's true or not, one has to consider the organizational implications of emancipation, as they certainly won't sort themselves out.
February 25, 2014
This is one of the hardest books that I have ever tried to understand and, I am told, it is the most accessible of Stafford Beer's books.
To get as far as page 30 I have had to go and back and read Ross Ashby's Introduction to Cybernetics.
I have to read each page several times and then take notes and then think about it for some hours.
A friend whose intellect I deeply respect believes that Stafford Beer's ideas are very important for understanding organisations so I am going to try and stick at this but, man..., it's hard.
To get as far as page 30 I have had to go and back and read Ross Ashby's Introduction to Cybernetics.
I have to read each page several times and then take notes and then think about it for some hours.
A friend whose intellect I deeply respect believes that Stafford Beer's ideas are very important for understanding organisations so I am going to try and stick at this but, man..., it's hard.
June 23, 2021
Viable System Model is continues be interesting for me but I'm disappointed by this book. Despite the author's attempt to make it well thought educational piece it's super hard to understand, and many shortcuts are made. I was told it's better to understand this one after reading Brain and Heart so I may come back to this someday.
November 30, 2020
fantastic accompaniment to Brain of the Firm and Heart of Enterprise. The clearest description of the VSM yet.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews