Principles and axioms of organization

HOE Appendix One, “Glossary of Rules for the Viable System” (HOE 1979: 565–567), is the authorised list. overview Draft 0.8 — not project canon.

What Beer says

First Principle: “Managerial, operational and environmental varieties, diffusing through an institutional system, tend to equate; they should be designed to do so with minimum damage to people and to cost.” (HOE 1979: 565; p. 97). They “tend to equate”; they “should be designed” to — “it is management’s job to DESIGN the necessary amplifiers and attenuators” (HOE 1979: 97).

First Axiom (body): “The sum of horizontal variety disposed by n operational elements = the sum of vertical variety disposed on the six vertical components of corporate cohesion” (HOE 1979: 217). Those six loops absorb System One’s horizontal variety (HOE 1979: 143).

Second Axiom (glossary): “The variety disposed by System Three resulting from the operation of the First Axiom equals the variety disposed by System Four.” (HOE 1979: 566; p. 298; DTS 1985: 118). Three–Four homeostat = “the organ of ADAPTATION” (DTS 1985: 120).

Third Axiom: “The variety disposed by System Five equals the residual variety generated by the operation of the Second Axiom.” (HOE 1979: 567; DTS 1985: 130). system-five closes what Three and Four leave (HOE 1979: 261).

Where it sits in the model

First Principle: variety engineering (variety-and-regulation). First Axiom: cohesion in one recursion (system-one vs six vertical channels at system-three). Second: Three–Four (system-four). Third: Five as residual. law-of-cohesion extends the First Axiom across recursions (HOE 1979: 355).

Textual notes

First Principle: body “minimal damage” (HOE 1979: 97) vs appendix “minimum damage” (HOE 1979: 565). First Axiom: body ”=” (HOE 1979: 217); glossary “equals” (HOE 1979: 566); DTS “EQUALS” (DTS 1985: 84). Second/Third: body “are equivalent” / “is equivalent to” (HOE 1979: 298); glossary and DTS “equals” (HOE 1979: 566–567; DTS 1985: 118, 130). Six vertical loops: HOE happenstance three + command, Two, audit (HOE 1979: 142–143) ≠ DTS Corporate Intervention, Resource Bargain, operational linkages, environmental intersects, Two, audit (DTS 1985: 81–82).

Open points

Ch. 3 wording checks resolved on scans. HOE figure labels for “3*” not checked on figures (ch. 9 todo).

Related

stafford-beer · viable-system-model · variety-and-regulation · system-three · system-four · system-five · law-of-cohesion · the-heart-of-enterprise · pure-vsm-part-i-foundations · pure-vsm-part-ii-the-viable-system-model