INCREMENTALISM (Disjoined)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1629 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Human sciences |
Small changes introduced in a system, based on inadequate information and understanding (Adapted from J.van GIGCH, 1978, p.360).
This concept has been introduced by D. BRAYBROOKE & C.E. LINDBLOM (1963), according to whom it is characterized by decisions “subject to constant reconsideration and redirection… typical of ordinary political life”. They state that, as most political decisions are based on small incremental changes, “old programs go on to being developed into new programs as a sequence of decisions”. Such a new program “is not a program at all; it is not a comprehensively considered and coordinated policy”. Rather “it is the product of a number of small specific moves… whereby old programs are modified through… an endless stream… of decisions” (as quoted by J.van GIGCH, p. 360).
This kind of ad hoc tinkering is of course anti-systemic, and is the main cause of global suboptimization, squandering and pathological bureaucratization.
This problem is closely related to J. WARFIELD's underconceptualization.