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Cybernetics and Management
Rubbing wear to cover, spine and page edges. Corner of front cover and first page chipped.
- GenresManagement
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1967
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July 30, 2022
This is a review of the second edition of Cybernetics and Management, published in 1967 by English Universities Press.
This book is divided in four main parts or sections, namely: Basic Notions, The Logical Theory of Cybernetics, The Biophysical Theory of Cybernetics and the Analogue Theory of Cybernetics.
It starts with an introduction to the science of cybernetics, its origins, the role of some of the forefathers (notably Norbert Wiener and Arturo Rosenblum) and a brief sketch on the possibilities of the, then newborn, science. Quite early on in the book, Beer stresses the importance of Cybernetics in the way it breaks down the barriers of science as a reductionist philosophy. Cybernetics, the science of control and communication in the animal and the machine, is born as a holistic science that aims to integrate disparate disciplines such as mathematics, physiology, psychology, anthropology or mechanics. And in this book Beer will make the case that by using the same principles upon which living organisms can adapt to their environment, we can make businesses more apt to surviving in the long run by applying cybernetic thinking to management.
In order to show the sound theory that sustains cybernetics, Beer develops three parts (divided roughly in five chapters each) that aim to lay the foundations he will need later on in the book to fully deploy how cybernetic ideas apply to management.
The first of these, the logical theory of Cybernetics, explains Cybernetics as a pure science. The second one, the biophysical theory of Cybernetics presents Cybernetics as a descriptive science, showing what the practical applications of Cybernetics were possible at the time of publication (such as machines to learn and teach or experiments with robots in adaptive behavior). A brief sketch of what a cybernetic factory might look like is also offered at the end of this part.
Lastly, the problems and limitations of Cybernetics are dealt with the final part: the analogue theory of Cybernetics. Here, Beer explores the limitations of building machines with materials that do not resemble the fabric of organisms, philosophical considerations as to how to harness stochastic processes when facing the paradox of random numbers creation, and finally the ambiguity of language.
Depending on the reader's expectations, they could be feel disappointed at realizing that out of 20 chapters; only one deals with how to apply Cybernetics in a management context (Sketch for a Cybernetic Factory).
So what this book offers is a deep, sometimes tortuous, theoretical treatment of Cybernetics that might delight the intellectual mind; at the expense of keeping a constant eye to the management aspect. Beer justifies himself throughout the book stating that in order to fully comprehend the application of Cybernetics, readers must be familiar with the theoretical underpinnings of cybernetics. I would have argued that in order to understand how to deal with information in the context of a factory; I didn't need to be lectured on the superiority of the binary system to record information.
Notwithstanding the extensive theory deployed in this book, it truly makes for a classic. I struggled a lot half-way through the book, some concepts were just hard to grasps (it's been more than 20 years since I saw logarithms). But as I was approaching the end, where Beer gives us a glimpse of what Cybernetics could offer in order to develop self-sustained complex adaptive systems, I felt it was worth all the while.
Beer was a magnetic personality himself, and that may have biased my review. But the main reason I ended up giving this book 4 stars, despite my struggles with it, was Beer's vision for a future that; based on this account, seemed within grasp of the Human race.
As a bonus, the second edition contains a fifth part entitled POSTSCRIPT, with a single chapter about the progress made in the field of management cybernetics since the first edition was published back in 1959. In it, Beer complained that 10 years after publishing the original edition of Cybernetics and Management, huge progress was made in the adoption of computers in businesses, but very little had been done to integrate them into holistic systems for management. In other words, silos still prevailed, and senior management kept none the wiser because the same old practices were kept within firms. It's just that computers automated most of the old practices. The adoption of his paradigm to management, to think a company is a living organism, which self-regulates in order to adapt its environment to survive, was an elusive opportunity to many.
This book is divided in four main parts or sections, namely: Basic Notions, The Logical Theory of Cybernetics, The Biophysical Theory of Cybernetics and the Analogue Theory of Cybernetics.
It starts with an introduction to the science of cybernetics, its origins, the role of some of the forefathers (notably Norbert Wiener and Arturo Rosenblum) and a brief sketch on the possibilities of the, then newborn, science. Quite early on in the book, Beer stresses the importance of Cybernetics in the way it breaks down the barriers of science as a reductionist philosophy. Cybernetics, the science of control and communication in the animal and the machine, is born as a holistic science that aims to integrate disparate disciplines such as mathematics, physiology, psychology, anthropology or mechanics. And in this book Beer will make the case that by using the same principles upon which living organisms can adapt to their environment, we can make businesses more apt to surviving in the long run by applying cybernetic thinking to management.
In order to show the sound theory that sustains cybernetics, Beer develops three parts (divided roughly in five chapters each) that aim to lay the foundations he will need later on in the book to fully deploy how cybernetic ideas apply to management.
The first of these, the logical theory of Cybernetics, explains Cybernetics as a pure science. The second one, the biophysical theory of Cybernetics presents Cybernetics as a descriptive science, showing what the practical applications of Cybernetics were possible at the time of publication (such as machines to learn and teach or experiments with robots in adaptive behavior). A brief sketch of what a cybernetic factory might look like is also offered at the end of this part.
Lastly, the problems and limitations of Cybernetics are dealt with the final part: the analogue theory of Cybernetics. Here, Beer explores the limitations of building machines with materials that do not resemble the fabric of organisms, philosophical considerations as to how to harness stochastic processes when facing the paradox of random numbers creation, and finally the ambiguity of language.
Depending on the reader's expectations, they could be feel disappointed at realizing that out of 20 chapters; only one deals with how to apply Cybernetics in a management context (Sketch for a Cybernetic Factory).
So what this book offers is a deep, sometimes tortuous, theoretical treatment of Cybernetics that might delight the intellectual mind; at the expense of keeping a constant eye to the management aspect. Beer justifies himself throughout the book stating that in order to fully comprehend the application of Cybernetics, readers must be familiar with the theoretical underpinnings of cybernetics. I would have argued that in order to understand how to deal with information in the context of a factory; I didn't need to be lectured on the superiority of the binary system to record information.
Notwithstanding the extensive theory deployed in this book, it truly makes for a classic. I struggled a lot half-way through the book, some concepts were just hard to grasps (it's been more than 20 years since I saw logarithms). But as I was approaching the end, where Beer gives us a glimpse of what Cybernetics could offer in order to develop self-sustained complex adaptive systems, I felt it was worth all the while.
Beer was a magnetic personality himself, and that may have biased my review. But the main reason I ended up giving this book 4 stars, despite my struggles with it, was Beer's vision for a future that; based on this account, seemed within grasp of the Human race.
As a bonus, the second edition contains a fifth part entitled POSTSCRIPT, with a single chapter about the progress made in the field of management cybernetics since the first edition was published back in 1959. In it, Beer complained that 10 years after publishing the original edition of Cybernetics and Management, huge progress was made in the adoption of computers in businesses, but very little had been done to integrate them into holistic systems for management. In other words, silos still prevailed, and senior management kept none the wiser because the same old practices were kept within firms. It's just that computers automated most of the old practices. The adoption of his paradigm to management, to think a company is a living organism, which self-regulates in order to adapt its environment to survive, was an elusive opportunity to many.
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