SYSTEMICS (Practical)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3437 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
D. DURAND emits the following “guidelines for a correct use of the systemic method” (1979, p.69);
- “5 ”negative“ guidelines
- not to reduce variety in order to simplify
- not to eliminate uncertainty or randomness
- not to ignore constraints
- not to cut feedback loops
- not to try to be exhaustive
- “5 heuristic type guidelines
- Favour a revealing model over an explanation
- Start with a synchronic approach, and follow with a diachronic one
- Think of function and structure alternatively
- Put emphasis on the systems links
- Put emphasis on the regulation subsystem
- “5 guidelines for action
- Define goals, better than establish a program
- Allow for autonomy at each level
- Use information, more than energy
- Take in account delays in responses
- Maintain adaptation margins“.
While possibly somewhat too systematic, these guidelines are surely useful, and even basic for the understanding and the management of complex situations.
- “Information” should include the complete “tool-box” of systemic concepts and models.
Systemics should, in the opinion of this compiler, never be considered in a presciptive way. It could not justify any ideology. Such a deformation would become very confusing and dangerous.