The Viable System Model
*1. Definitions
- The viable system model contains beer's five interacting subsytems. It attempts to remove the hierarchical structures in traditional top-down systems.
- A system is a collection of smaller parts that come together to make a whole
2. Key Principles
- The VSM is fully recursive. Any part of the system is structured like the whole. This makes it easy for any level to understand another, because the architecture is identical at each scale.
- Information travels between levels as a continuous loop instead of a top-down command chain
3. Story
Beer noticed the disruption that hierarchy causes: It was less a description of how the system worked, but more who gets blamed for what. He modeled a system that balanced autonomy and cohesion: the VSM. It featured three structures:
4. VSM Structure
4.1. The Environment
This is the external context that the system exists in. It is the source of complexity and signals. The system must communicate with the environment without hierarchical lines to remain viable
4.2. Operations (1)
These are the autonomous units that perform the primary activities of the system. They function independently within the rules and bring data up to the Meta-System (see: meta-system). Each operational unit is itself a viable system.
4.3. Coordination (2)
This system prevents oscillation and conflict between the operations. It exists to stabilize interactions between autonomous units so that they do not interfere with one another.
4.4. Meta-System
The Meta-System operates on a reduced, aggregated view of the system. . It is only able to make macroscopic decisions. It maintains identity and compliance with rules, and prevents the operations from conflicting.
4.4.1. Control (3)
This system makes macroscopic decisions about the internal functioning of the system. It allocates resources, enforces rules, and ensures that operations are aligned with the system as a whole.
4.4.2. Intelligence (4)
This system observes the outside environment and predicts future patterns. It is concerned with adaptation, learning, and how the system must change in response to external complexity.
4.4.3. Policy (5)
This system maintains identity. It defines the ruleset and resolves tensions between present functioning and future adaptation. It exists to determine what the system is.
5. Elsewhere
5.1. References
5.2. In my garden
Notes that link to this note (AKA backlinks).