The Viable System Model of Stafford Beer - a cybernetic method for organizing of MALIK Management Zentrum St. Gallen, applied by Effective Management
Never start with an organisation chart when setting up a new organisation!
Organizing is one of the five key tasks of every Executive – organizing people, organizing units or companies, organising systems. When setting up new structures many people start by drawing an organisation chart or organigram. But, what does an organigram really tell us? Does it show the functioning of a department or company? Does it show anything about our communication with clients? What about meetings, secretaries, or PAs? – A traditional organigram shows only a very small part of an organization - departments and their heads, the official channels, and the levels of the hierarchy. Some people actually say it shows the “blaming structure” of an organisation.
A more valuable approach when setting up a new organisation – or thinking through an existing one – is to start with the basic five systemic functions - operation, coordination, optimization, intelligence, and value setting. These five functions are all necessary and sufficient elements of any viable organisation.
Five basic Functions of a Viable Organization
The Principle of Recursion
Each viable system is embedded into a viable system and is made out of viable systems itself. This way, the entire system with all its units and managerial functions, including products, client groups and regions, is described in one single model.
A new Approach towards Organizing
We need a totally new understanding of organizations:
Proliferating complexity and unpredictable dynamics need models that perceive an organization as a viable and sustainable system. Organizational structures need to be designed in a way that allows changes of the outside environment to be identified and permanently integrated in the development of the institution. An organization is then viable when it
* adapts to outside changes,
* learns from experience,
* has its own identity, and
* generally develops itself.
Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model (VSM®) defines the necessary and sufficient conditions for a viable organization. Therefore, a VSM® analysis provides certainty about the sustainable effectiveness of the organization:
* An analysis of the in-depth structure, i.e. systemic functions, interaction and communication, reveals whether the organization is effective, guidable, efficient, robust and flexible on a sustained basis.
* Existing organizational structures will be interpreted in terms of their sustainability and possible malfunctions will be diagnosed.
* Insights about the functionality and dependencies of the operational, coordinating, optimizing, auditing, investigating and value-setting units of all levels will be demonstrated.
Weaknesses of the organization’s effectiveness will be identified. Findings of a VSM® analysis provide a basis for
1. self-organization,
2. the development of an organization’s design for effective performance,
3. understanding and effective design of information and communication fluxes,
4. the creation of all the necessary and sufficient conditions to tackle future challenges.
How to get your VSM® Analysis?
A typical consulting process consists of the following steps:
1. Clarification of objectives
2. Interviews with key persons within the organization
3. First introduction workshop with key persons
4. Elaboration of a preliminary diagnosis about viability of the organization
5. Designing autonomy – the Operational Units
6. The Operational, Strategic and Normative Management,
7. Implementation and Formalization
Contacts:
For further information please contact Ms. Raquel Delgado, office@effective-management.co.za