This book describes the neurology of a business as a new dimension of organization and as a basis for success in a complex world. Comparing organizations with living organisms, it places an organization’s neurology (control and communication) as a third dimension beside its anatomy (structure) and physiology (process). Overlooked by classical organizational theory, this third dimension offsets its typical drawbacks.
The Neurology of Business introduces Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model (VSM) and shows how this helps managers to diagnose, discover, and unleash the potential and performance lying dormant in today’s enterprises.
The book is based on numerous consulting projects and management seminars conducted in Europe, America, and Asia. It guides the reader through the diagnosis and design process and illustrates application issues with practical examples. In this way, the book provides managers with the language needed to have meaningful conversations about how their organizations are functioning. As such, it will benefit managers in business and nonbusiness organizations, as well as readers interested in general management.
Author(s): Martin Pfiffner
Series: Management for Professionals
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 319
City: Cham
Preface
Prologue: Why This Book Matters
A World-Changing Discovery: The Formula for Success
Cybernetics: The Science of Control and Communication
Application to Technology
Application to Organizations (Social Systems)
Economy 4.0 with Organization 2.0 Leads to Turbulence
Metamorphosis not ``More of the Same´´
The Third Dimension of Organizing
Contents
Part I: Necessity and Benefits of the Third Dimension
1: Introduction
1.1 Why We Need Good Structures
1.2 Organizational Structure and the Process Organization at Their Limits
1.2.1 Barely Anyone Is Satisfied
1.2.2 Work-to-Rule as a Threat
1.2.3 ``Organisitis´´ as Chronic Disease
1.2.4 Fashions and Disorientation
1.3 Complexity as Common Denominator
1.4 The Organism as a Model of Organizing
1.5 Structure and Benefits of this Book
1.5.1 Purpose
1.5.2 Working with the Viable System Model: Personal Experience
1.5.3 Practical Experience and the Benefits of the Model
1.5.4 How This Book Is Structured
1.5.5 Language
2: The Ten Cardinal Mistakes of Organizing
2.1 Beginning with Organizational Charts
2.2 Organizing Past Customer Benefit
2.3 Copying Competitors
2.4 Optimizing Weaknesses
2.5 Escaping into the Matrix
2.6 Starting with People
2.7 Overlooking Nesting
2.8 Organizing the New in the Old
2.9 Not Distinguishing Supporting and Operational Units
2.10 Neglecting Neurology
Part II: The Viable System Model
3: A Model of Control and Communication
3.1 Organization: The ``Enabling Link´´ Between Strategy and Culture
3.2 What Can a Model Do?
3.3 The Invariant Structure in the Best Practice Model of Control
3.4 The Viable System Model (a Model of Viable Systems)
4: Introduction to the Model
4.1 The Basic Elements: Environment, Operation, and Management
4.2 System 1: Operational Units
4.3 System 2: Coordination
4.4 System 3: Optimization and Auditing
4.4.1 System 3*: Real-Life Information and Auditing
4.5 System 4: Intelligence and Adaptation
4.6 System 5: Identity
5: Russian Dolls
6: Hierarchy and the Redundancy of Potential Command
Part III: Diagnosis and Design
7: Overview of the Diagnostic Process
8: Diagnosing and Designing the Basic Structure (Anatomy, Step I)
8.1 Capture the Levels of Recursion
8.2 Define the System in Focus (SIF)
8.3 Check Segmentation
9: Mastering Complexity (Excursus)
9.1 Measuring Complexity
9.2 Coping with Complexity
9.3 Conant-Ashby Theorem
9.4 Negative Feedback and Self-Control
10: Manageable or Not? (Step II)
11: Mission-Critical Tasks (Step III)
12: Centralized or Decentralized? (Step IV)
13: Diagnosing and Designing the Control Functions (Step V)
13.1 S2: Coordination and Support
13.2 S3: Optimizing Today´s Business
13.3 S3*: Real-Life Information and Auditing
13.4 S4: External Communication, Adaptation, and Renewal
13.5 S5: Identity, Norms, and S5-S3/4 Interaction
14: Diagnosing and Designing Communication Channels (Step VI)
14.1 Communicative Performance
14.1.1 Channel Capacity
14.1.2 Intelligibility
14.1.3 Timeliness
14.2 Communication Security
14.3 Connecting Several Levels
14.4 Does the ``Algedonic Signal´´ Work?
Part IV: From Knowledge to Implementation
15: Making the Organization Understandable (Step VII)
15.1 Representing the Control Organization
15.2 Job Descriptions
15.3 Organizational Chart
16: Successful Implementation
16.1 Incremental Change or Reorganization?
16.2 People Versus Things
16.3 Four Implementation Phases
16.4 Four Success Factors
16.4.1 Adapt the Management and Incentive System
16.4.2 Pull Instead of Push: The Principle of ``Powers Reserved´´
16.4.3 Build Trust
16.4.4 Perseverance and Positive Thinking
17: Quick Diagnoses
17.1 Dissociation
17.1.1 Situation
17.1.2 Symptoms
17.1.3 The Path to Recovery
17.2 Schizophrenia
17.2.1 Situation
17.2.2 Symptoms
17.2.3 The Path to Recovery
17.3 The Bottle-Neck
17.3.1 Situation
17.3.2 Symptoms
17.3.3 The Path to Recovery
17.4 Uncontrolled Growth
17.4.1 Situation
17.4.2 Symptoms
17.4.3 The Path to Recovery
17.5 Dominance
17.5.1 Situation
17.5.2 Symptoms
17.5.3 The Path to Recovery
17.6 Multiple Personality
17.6.1 Situation
17.6.2 Symptoms
17.6.3 The Path to Recovery
17.7 Mindlessness
17.7.1 Situation
17.7.2 Symptoms
17.7.3 The Path to Recovery
18: Balancing Present and Future
18.1 Beyond Dispute
18.2 The Operations Room
18.2.1 Information and Alarm
18.2.2 Memory
18.2.3 Planning and Simulation
18.2.4 Attention Focus
Epilogue: The Proof of the Pudding is in the Eating
Glossary
Selected References
Chonological List of Studies on the Viable System Model
