Stafford Beer, Brain of the Firm, Reclaimed (v1)

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by  Council for Future Cybernetics

Brain of the Firm
2ndEdition
StaffordBeer
Contents
Prefacetofirstedition 2
Prefacetosecondedition 4
Acknowledgements 6
PartOne: ConceptualComponents 7
SummaryofPartOne 8
Chapter1:Let’sThinkAgain 10
Chapter2:ConceptsandTerms 26
Chapter3:TheDimensionsoftheProblem 37
Chapter4:TheOrganizationofUnthinkableSystems 47
Chapter5:HierarchiesofControl 57
PartTwo: TheFormoftheModel 65
SummaryofPartTwo 66
Chapter6:TheAnatomyofManagement 68
Chapter7:ControlPhysiology 78
Chapter8:Autonomy 90
Chapter9:AutonomicManagement 103
Chapter10:TheBiggestSwitch 116
ii
CONTENTS iii
PartThree: TheUseoftheModel 129
SummaryofPartThree 130
Chapter11:CorporateStructureanditsQuantification 132
Chapter12:Autonomics‐SystemsOne,Two,Three 143
Chapter13:EnvironmentsofDecision–SystemFour 155
Chapter14:TheMultinode–SystemFive 170
Chapter15:TheHigherManagement 190
PartFour: TheCourseofHistory 203
SummaryofPartFour 205
Chapter16:AFlyingStart 206
Chapter17:IntoitsStride 218
Chapter18:TheOctoberWatershed 261
Chapter19:TheEndoftheBeginning 277
Chapter20:Prospectus 291
PartFive: Appendix 329
NotetoPartFour 330
Glossaryofcybernetictermsusedinthisbook 332
Selectbibliography 334
iv CONTENTS
CONTENTS 1
DEDICATION
Tomycolleaguespastandpresentmanagerial
andscientificwithamotto
ABSOLUTUM
OBSOLETUM
–ifitworks,it’soutofdate
Preface to first edition
This book is about large and complicated systems, such as animals, computers, and
economies. Itisinparticularaboutthecontroloftheenterprise,thebrainofthefirm.
That is a difficult subject – difficult to think about or to read about, difficult to write
about.
WhentheWhiteRabbitaskedtheKingwhereheshouldbegin, theKingreplied: ‘Be‐
ginatthebeginningandgoontillyoucometotheend: thenstop.’ Butexplanationis
notlikethat. Hisadviceisagoodexampleofthefailuretorecognizewhenoneisup
againstalarge,complexsystem. Thisparticularsystembeginswithtwosub‐systems,
themselvesalmostunthinkablycomplicated,calledtheauthorandthereader. Itgoes
onwiththetopic–thesubjectmatter(alsocomplicated)bywhichalonetheywillbe
connected. Itthenseekstoweldthethreesub‐systemsintoameaningfulwhole. That
iswhatcommunicationisallabout,anditisnoteasilydone.
After a lot of re‐arranging and re‐writing, this book turns out to begin three times –
whichiswhyitcomesinthreeparts. Thefirstestablishessometalk. Thesecondsays
whatIreallywantedtosay,usingthetalk. Thethird(hopefully)sayswhatthereader
really wanted to hear, given that he has already heard what I really wanted to say. It
soundscomplicated,becauseitis. ButIhopetheapproachmakesthingseasierrather
thanmoredifficult.
Incommunicationeverythingdependsonwhatyouendupwith,notonwhatwasactu‐
allysaidorwrittendown. Hereyouaresupposedtoendupwithaninsight,notwithan
agglomerationoffacts. Wheneverythingisunderstoodthedetailsceasetomattervery
much,orcanbechanged,orcanevenbeabandonedforanotherset. AsWittgenstein
saidattheendoftheTractatus,whenyouhaveclimbeduptheladder,youcanthrowit
away.
Buttheladdermustbethere,andsecure,andtherungsinplace;theclimbitselfmaybe
stiff.Myonlyhopeisthattheviewfromthetopisworthwhile.Afterthecommunication
isallover,ofcourse,wecanagreetodifferaboutallthestepsontheway.
Inparticular,wecanchooseawholenewvocabularyifwelike.Forthemoment,Ihave
hadtochooseone,becauseIamstartingthiscommunication.Manywillfinditstrange.
Butwordsareonlynames: pleasedonotbeputoffbymynames. Pleasehaveanagree‐
mentwithmeaboutthem.IsayallthisbecauseIfindthatcyberneticsespecially(these
arecyberneticwritings)leadspeopletoarguewithfervouraboutnames–forgettingthe
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ideastheyname. Thoughallcommunicationrunsthesamesortofrisk.
ThispointiswellcoveredbysuchwritersasWittgenstein. Butitwasbroughthometo
memostvividlybyoneofmychildren,Matthew,whenhewasthreeyearsold. Hehad
foundtwocoppercoinsinadrawer.‘Daddy,’hecarefullyexplained,‘thesesixpencesare
half‐pennies.’ Mysixpencesmaybeyourhalf‐pennies,too. Itdoesnotmatteraslong
aswebothknowwhattheywillbuy,becausewhattheywillbuyisalltheyareabout.
S.B.
Preface to second edition
Theoriginaleditionofthisbookwaspublishedin1972. Translationshaveappearedin
Danish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese, and preparations continue for ver‐
sions in another three languages. Meanwhile, however, the original English text has
beeninconvenientlyoutofprintsinceearlyin1975.Thereasonwasthatsharpchanges
ineditorialpoliciesandpeoplehadoccurredintheoriginalpublishinghouse,where
dozensoftitleswereconsequentlyandsuddenlyabandoned.PublicationrightsinBrain
werecourteouslyreturnedtome.
Bythistime,however,twothingshadhappened. Amassiveapplicationofthiswhole
approach to management cybernetics had been undertaken (1971 ‐ 73) in Chile. The
eventualoverthrowofPresidentAllende’sadministrationwasastraumaticanexperi‐
enceformeasformanyotherswho,thoughnotbornChileans,hadreasontoidentify
themselveswiththenation’ssuffering.YearsweretopassbeforeIfeltabletoreviewall
myChileanpapers,andtowriteafullpersonalaccountoftheapplications–anaccount
whichnowappearsinanewPart(ChaptersSixteentoTwenty)ofthissecondedition.
Secondly,ifsecondarily,Ihadbeenengagedinthewritingoftwootherbooks:Platform
forChange,whichJohnWileypublishedin1975,andTheHeartofEnterprise,whichthat
samehouseissuedlatein1979. Thelatterwork,however,isthecompanionvolumeto
this. ThankstomypublisherandfriendJamesCameronofWiley’s,HeartandBrainare
nowavailableincomplementaryeditionsthathavebeenpreparedinparallel. Ihope
verymuchthattheirmutualsupportwillreleasesynergisticenergyforthereadersof
both.
Use of this work is certainly becoming quite widespread. It is helpful to know about
applicationsonwhichIhavenotpersonallybeenconsultednorhelda‘watchingbrief’.
Thisispartlyforresearchpurposes,butalsobecausepeopleoftenwritetoseewhether
theycanbeputintouchwiththoseusingtheapproachintheirownfieldsofmanage‐
mentortypeoforganization.
Thefirstpreface,whichyoumayjustnowhaveread,explainedwhytheoriginalbook
beganthreetimes, andthereforecamein threeparts (plusanAppendix). The above
storyisperhapsalreadysufficienttoexplainwhythebooknowbeginsfourtimes,and
comesinfourparts(theoriginalAppendixbecomingPartFive). Therewasofcoursea
temptationtorewriteeverything,butthisseemedunfairtothosealreadyfamiliarwith
thefirstedition. Inreviewingthattext,Ihavemadeadditions,ratherthanalterations.
Thestructureandchapterheadingsremainasbefore. Thefinalproblemaboutthepre‐
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sentationofthisfresheditionconcernsitstitle. Evenin1972,theapparentlimitation
ofthecyberneticsoftheviablesystemto‘thefirm’wastoorestrictive–becauseappli‐
cationstootherkindsofenterprise,andespeciallygovernment,werealreadyintrain.
WiththeinclusionofallthenewmaterialinPartFour,thetitleisstrictlyamisnomer.
However, it simply does not seem either legitimate or helpful to use a new title for a
bookthesubstanceofwhichisalreadyestablished.
Onthequestionoftitles, BrainandHeart shallsufficeintheirreferencestoanatomy;
thereisnotruthinacolleague’sexpectationthatBigToewouldeventuallybereached.
Havingmadethisresolution,Iallowmyselfonefinalreferencetoabodilyorgan–re‐
latingasitdoestothebusinessofmanagerialandministerialinnovation,onwhichthis
bookhasmuchtosay. ThefigureofPrometheusispicturedonamedalthatwaspre‐
sentedtomeinSwedenin1958,andthelateEdyVerlander,whowasinchargeofthe
event,askedmewhatthisfigureportended. OfcourseIrepliedthatPrometheusstood
asasymbolofscience,sincehebroughtdownfirefromheaven.‘No,no’,saidEdy.‘The
medalisindeedforinnovators,butthepointaboutPrometheusisthathewaschained
toarockandhadhisliverpeckedout.’Ididnotthinkatthetimethathewasexactlyjok‐
ing;butnowIamsurethathewasperfectlyserious. Thereward‐and‐penaltystructure
inmanagementheavilydisfavoursinnovation:itisafactwhichdemandsfreshthinking
ifourinstitutionsaretosurvive.
Meanwhile,IcommendyoutoBrain,anorgantobetreatedwithespecialrespect–even
withacertainreverence,sincethesearethebrainsofaplanetaryfuturewithwhichwe
deal. Thereisabook,writtenbyJocastaInnes(ReferencesD),which–tojudgebythe
frequencywithwhichIconsultit–mustbeofsomeimportance.Shememorablywrites:
“brainsneedgentlehandling
ortheyareapttodisintegrate.”
Amen.
S.B.
Acknowledgements
TothemanyfriendswhoknowthatIknowthattheyhelped,andequallytothosewho
suspectthatIdonotknow,myverywarmthanks.
Isalutethememoryofthosethreegrandfathersofcybernetics,NorbertWiener,War‐
renMcCulloch,andRossAshby,withmuchaffection.
My thanks to those managers in business and industry, government and universities,
and in communities too, who have allowed and even encouraged me to develop this
theoryoforganizationontheirterritoriesoverthirtyyears.
MayIalsopubliclythankmywifeSallieforkeepingbothmeandthetypescriptgoing
throughmanyyearsofwritingandthroughtwoeditions–thisbeingtheonlypagethat
Itypedmyself.
S.B.
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