🌿🧭🌳 OD108: Viable Systems Model 🥦
Bülent Duagi 🇷🇴
Strategy Adviser for CEOs in Tech » Guidance for keeping your business relevant
Curated resources on Strategy ∙ Org Design ∙ Org Development ∙ Adjacent fields
Starters
1 of 4 / Aleix Morgadas: The outcome of the strategy becomes culture
Aleix shares his journey as a strategist and multiple maturity levels of ”doing strategy”
”L0. We don’t need an strategy, just execute
L1. Let’s copy what others do
L2. Strategy needs to address the business needs
L3. Strategy addresses the business challenges understanding the current context
L4. Strategy addresses the business challenge and will position us in a new context and culture”
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2 of 4 / Kevin L Brown: One-sentence theory of change
”(…) a simple logic model to explain your work
We work (WHERE) to help (WHO) (WHAT) (HOW),
in order to (WHEN), because (WHY).
Example:
Transform Schools
We work in India (WHERE) to help secondary school system actors (WHO) improve learning outcomes for children (WHAT) through co-designed learning enhancement programmes and capacity building (HOW), in order to reach 20 million children by 2030 (WHEN), because poverty could be cut in half if all children completed secondary school (WHY).”
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3 of 4 / CocoonPro: Whole Scale Change Advanced Training
For seasoned change practitioners, Paul Tolchinsky and Stelio Verzera will host together the Advanced training in the WSC methodology in Rome. Get the early bird tickets by Feb 18th and enjoy! Via Stelio:
”As you will read, this is a training tailored to experienced change practitioners, that won't dwell on the basics of WSC. Rather, it will focus on advanced real-life challenges in doing it, and on its evolution with technology and our times.
Important: this is a one-time opportunity, as Paul won't repeat this advanced training. In fact, he will stop running any training after 2024. And all other WSC training sessions for 2024 will be foundations, not advanced”
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4 of 4 / Dimitri Glazkov: Reinventing Organizations Redux
A glimpse into one possible (probable?) future of organizations - highlights ours:
”It is quite possible (likely?) that organizations we will work in will include both human and non-human workers in them.
These organizations will face the same challenges that any organization will face, and likely more new challenges that we haven’t even considered.
There will be levels.
Simple tasks performed by armies of lower-nomenclature model-powered workers (we’ll probably call them bots).
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More complex tasks performed by more expensive models.
People will likely be supervising, directing, or tuning knowledge work.
There might be an entirely new discipline of virtual organization development that emerges as a way of studying and finding more effective ways to conduct organizations that include model-based agents as part of their workforce.”
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Main
Viable Systems Model 🥦
SCiO Systems and Complexity in Organisation just released The VSM Test, which includes a 19-page practical guide explaining VSM:
The Viable System Model (VSM) is a short conceptual framework to understand and design adaptive organizations.
”It identifies essential functions and relationships within a system, emphasizing the importance of maintaining viability, flexibility, and adaptability in complex environments.
The model consists of interrelated subsystems that work together to ensure the organization's survival and effective response to external challenges.
The VSM is widely used in organizational theory and practice for analyzing and improving the viability of various systems.”
”The VSM consists of six horizontal system levels
and six vertical information channels
I’ve discovered VSM thanks to SCiO, deep dived into the matter thanks to The Fractal Organization book by Patrick Hoverstadt and then applied it to multiple org design projects - both at organization-wide level and when looking at parts of an organization. I highly recommend reading the new 19 page guide. Bülent
Dessert
1 of 2 / Upstairs: 1 Project and 3 Different Axonometric Styles in Architecture
Inspiration from the field of Architecture - visualizing the same project in multiple ways. The idea can be applied to strategy & org design projects, for visualizing various models and maps.
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2 of 2 / nature video: ‘Like a moth to a flame’ — this strange insect behaviour is finally explained
Inspiration about how new studies bring better understanding about observed phenomena. Big 👍 and thank you to researchers everywhere.
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Bon appétit!
Menu created for people who lead organizations and for those who help them do this in a better way, by learning chefs ✨ Raluca and Bülent Duagi 🌿. As the Sense & Change team, we’re working as Strategy & Org Design advisers and facilitators for leadership teams of mid and large 🇷🇴 Tech companies.
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