Conversations on Social Cybernetics Prof. Raul Espejo Social Science Centre January-March 2016 Session 2

Themes for conversation Action in organisations: the informational and operational domains Human Activity Systems and Human Interaction systems Variety and Complexity Relationships and interactions

Individual’s operational complexity uses incorporated practices in his/her operational domain as he/she interacts with others moment-to-moment person often experiencing breaks which may be construed as distinctions in language in his/her informational domain, producing learning if new practices are incorporated

Individual’s Complexity Individual complexity is defined by the distinctions we can make in our multiple domains of action for which we have embodied practices.

Social operational complexity are thrown into moment-to moment interactions in their operational domain Which may constitute them as roles of a social system (relationships) Members of Collective in which they often experience breaks which they construe as distinctions in language in their informational domain, and may ground into new practices

A participant’s complexity in a situation A participant’s complexity, or operational complexity, is defined by the distinctions he/she is able to make in the situation for which we can produce differentiated responses (i.e., practices). This defines his/her complexity in that particular domain of action (i.e., a situation).

Situational Variety and Complexity Variety of a situation is the number of possible states of the situation For an observer the complexity of a situation is the number of distinctions that he/she can make in the situation. We call this informational complexity.

The Variety of a black box (0,1) (0,1) Black Box (BB) VBB= (Vo)(Vi) (0,1)

Strategies to manage complex situations VE= 28= 256 0,1 0,1 Black Box VCN= 2256 VCN=VSVE VS= 2 0,1 Fragmentation: we split the Black Box in two, each with 4 inputs and one output: VCN= 216 + 216 = 217 +

Controlling the Black Box’s Complexity Environmental disturbances: (VD) Regulator Space of Desirable States: (VT) Controllable Resources Black Box (process) Outcomes (VO) Error Possible Responses (affordances) with the available resources(VR) Inquiry: Model of the BB VO ≥ VD / VR and regulation requires that: VO ≤ VT

Requisite Variety and Negative Explanation Negative explanation: RV tells us that the variety of the outcomes is larger (or equal) than the ratio between the varieties of the disturbances and responses. If the variety of the target set is smaller than the variety of the outcomes then we know that the target set is unachievable: we don’t know what will be case but we know that what is expected is not possible. Hence the relevance of giving requisite variety to organisational systems, that is, giving to these systems viable structures with the capabilities to respond to unexpected disturbances