VSM and Viablity Canvas
now at https://salon.tautai.net/

VSM and Viablity Canvas

h/t Ivo Velitchkov

Introduction

What is systems thinking? The answer depends on whom you ask. Here are two commonperspectives from which you will get two different answers. Engineering. Here, systems thinking is what you need to build a system whose requirements go beyond current practice. Example: all stages in a plan to evolve into a national energy distribution system for low-emission transportation. Metapolitics (a neologism analogous to metamathematics). Here, systems thinking is what you need (1)to understand the ambient social systems in which we all have unconsciously long been embedded, and (2)to use that understanding to attempt to bring these systems into alignment with current needs, given some disruptive change such as newtechnology or increased scale. Example: modifying the global economy in response to climate change.

This essay is based on the Metapolitics perspective. In two Examples I explore perverse behavior patterns of two ambient social systems, a newoneandanolder one: 1. mass radicalization, disinformation, and other perverse social consequences secondary to new technologies that facilitate intensive everyone-to-everyone communication (for example, “social networking”), and 2. environmental destruction secondary to a compulsion to grow arising from the financing structures of public corporations. Analysis of both of these behavior patterns reveals a common element: Emergent behaviors, not anticipated in classical thinking, arise from highly intraconnected or coupled networks. This failure of classical thought leads to The Big Lesson I wish to communicate in this essay: THINK NETWORKSFIRST, ACTORS SECOND. Here is the importance of this lesson: Effective interventions will arise from altering interactions within networks. You cannot even see these interactions unless you focus on the network. This essay offers two examples that contradict the conventional understanding of Network Effects. We are living inside something we don’t understand.

Peter writes:

“I’ve spent 40 years applying cybernetic frameworks to real organisations — from the U.S. Army War College to UNESCO to distributed educator networks spanning 18,000 participants. Recently, I’ve been working intensively with Claude (Anthropic’s AI), and something struck me: every interface Claude offers is a different kind of conversation, with different affordances and different costs.
So I wrote a practitioner’s guide mapping Claude’s eight conversation surfaces through the lens of Gordon Pask’s Conversation Theory (1975, 1976).
The core insight: every time you switch from chat to Claude Code, or from a Project to an Artifact, you’re not just changing tools — you’re changing the structure of the conversation itself. And that structure determines what kind of knowing is possible.
The guide introduces what I call the “re-education tax” — the real cost of re-establishing shared understanding when you switch surfaces or start fresh sessions. If you’ve ever felt frustrated explaining context to an AI again after switching tools, you’ve been paying this tax without naming it.”

(2) Post | LinkedIn

[Completing a trio of recent LinkedIn articles]

Sheila Damodaran
Global, National & Regional Strategy Development | Leadership Capacity, Systemic Research & Longitudinal Thinking Through The Fifth Discipline


February 1, 2026

(15) Jay Forrester and the Discipline That Learned to See Persistence | LinkedIn

[Another one where I have great sympathy with the author and intent, but don’t agree with the piece overall – however, lots of juicy debate!]

Abdul Aziz
Strategy & Performance through Empathy, Architecture and Analytics


February 14, 2026
I recently developed a “Systems & Complexity Lifecycle” framework as a teaching device, treating systems theory, complexity science, chaos theory, and catastrophe theory as temporal stages in how entities evolve from stability through transformation.

The framework maps four stages:

Stage 1 – Systems: Stability and homeostasis (Bertalanffy’s General Systems Theory)
Stage 2 – Complexity: Emergence of higher-order properties (Holland’s Hidden Order)
Stage 3 – Chaos: Sensitivity to initial conditions (Gleick’s Chaos)
Stage 4 – Catastrophe: Discontinuous transformation (Thom’s catastrophe theory)

(4) The Great Divide: Systems Thinking and Complexity Science | LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/great-divide-why-systems-thinking-complexity-science-abdul-aziz-7l8de/

Sheila Damodaran

Global, National & Regional Strategy Development | Leadership Capacity, Systemic Research & Longitudinal Thinking Through The Fifth Discipline

February 15, 2026

Peter Senge: The Fifth Discipline at Thirty-Five — Lineage, Surge, and Scale

Sheila Damodaran
Global, National & Regional Strategy Development | Leadership Capacity, Systemic Research & Longitudinal Thinking Through The Fifth Discipline


February 15, 2026

(2) Peter Senge: The Fifth Discipline at Thirty-Five — Lineage, Surge, and Scale | LinkedIn

Free 90 Minute AI Modeling Tools Workshop – Create diagrams such as the one below, completely documented, along with an Aha! Paradox, and emotional story embracing the relationships, usually in 10 min or less.
The Workshop will be at 11 am Eastern Time (New York) on Feb 19th, and I’ll send out the Zoom link info 1 day and 1 hour before the workshop. Just reply to this post, and I’ll put you on the list.

Post | Feed | LinkedIn

At Systems Thinking Systems Practice, 24-26 March 2026, University of Hull, we will again run Skills Training Workshops.

These workshops were a huge success at SysPrac25, with many of them oversubscribed.

They will take the form of interactive workshops, which will further develop your skills or introduce you to new approaches you may not have encountered before.

To vote visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfsLoKstfeA5BwI8pK5kAb25abdUAhLeKe2s51Xp4Gmxw_FAg/viewform before 20 February 2026!

The conference: https://stream.syscoi.com/2026/01/25/2026-conference-systems-thinking-and-systems-practice-hosted-by-the-university-of-hull-centre-for-systems-studies-css-systems-and-complexity-in-organisation-scio-and-the-or-society-24-26-march/

Complex Systems Frameworks Collection

Frameworks A-Z – Complex Systems Frameworks Collection

THE GAME

The Game – Birmingham Food Council

New website

Storytelling for Systems Change
A story-kit for changemakers

Storytelling for Systems Change – Dusseldorp Forum

Call for Abstracts

Submissions for presentations of papers, panel discussions, workshops, performance sessions, and creative contributions, inspired by George Spencer-Brown’s work and life, are now warmly invited for the Laws of Form 2026 Conference (LoF26).

There is no charge to attend or present at the conference.

Submission Guidelines

Please submit an extended abstract (up to 300 words) outlining the content and structure of your proposed contribution. Please include:

• Title of your presentation

• Name, affiliation, and contact email address

• Format preference (paper presentation, panel discussion, workshop, creative, etc.)

• Short biographical note (≤ 150 words)

• Any AV / technical / access requirements

• Submission deadline          Sunday 1^st March 2026

• Notification of acceptance                31^st March 2026

Facilities for remote video presentations will be available for those unable to attend in person.

Please send submissions as a single PDF or Word file to: conferences@lof50.com

Subject line: “LoF26 Submission – [Your Name]”

If you have a Google account you may prefer to upload your submission here:

As with previous conferences, and subject to peer review, contributions may be published in Distinction: Journal of Form (College Publications Ltd) or in future volumes of the Spencer-Brown Society book series Marked States.

Venue

University of Cambridge

Faculty of Education

184 Hills Road

Cambridge CB2 8PQ, United Kingdom

Monday 10 August – Friday 14 August 2026

Social & Cultural Events

In addition to the conference, optional events will include:

• Punting on the River Cam

• Evensong at King’s College Chapel

• A meal at the Eagle pub, where, on 28 February 1953, Francis Crick dramatically announced that he and James Watson had “discovered the secret of life.”

Support

LoF26 is entirely free to attend, made possible through the generosity of the Faculty of Education, Cambridge University, sponsors, and individual supporters.

Donations

Contributions toward the costs of running the conference and sharing its results are deeply appreciated and help ensure that participation remains open to all. Every contribution — large or small — directly sustains the continuation of this unique, open, and evolving forum dedicated to the work and life of George Spencer-Brown. If you are able to support this ongoing work, please make a donation through our website: https://lof50.com/

For enquiries concerning LoF26 please email: conferences@lof50.com

Join the Spencer-Brown Society

Membership of the Spencer-Brown Society is open to all and free of charge. To join and receive updates on conferences and publications, please visit https://lof50.com

We look forward to welcoming you to Cambridge in August for LoF26!

via Steve Hales at SCiO, who says:

Please be aware of this opportunity. Unfortunately the deadline I only a couple of weeks off. Please click on the link to apply:

PhD Studentship: A Systems Thinking Approach to Understanding and Preventing Male Suicide

University of Birmingham – School of Psychology

The Centre for National Training and Research Excellence in Understanding Behaviour (Centre-UB) is inviting applications for a Doctoral Studentship in association with our collaborative partner Sandwell Council to start in October 2026.

Male suicide is a major global public health challenge, accounting for around 75% of suicide deaths worldwide. In the UK, it remains the leading cause of death among men under 50, with persistently high rates despite sustained prevention efforts. Traditional research has focused on individual risk factors (e.g., depression, substance misuse, relationship breakdowns), but these approaches often overlook the complex, systemic nature of suicide.

This PhD will apply systems thinking to male suicide in the UK, recognising the dynamic interactions between individual, social, cultural, and structural factors.

The PhD aims to develop and test a novel systems-based framework to inform both policy and practice, identifying leverage points for more effective intervention. The successful candidate will use a combination of methodological approaches and techniques including realist review, co-production of complex systems map and case study analysis. They will work closely with stakeholders and experts by experience to ensure the research is meaningful, accessible and co-produced with the communities it aims to benefit.

We are looking for a highly talented and dedicated PhD student with a 1st class or 2:1 degree in the field of psychology, health sciences or related field. An MSc degree in a relevant area is desirable though not necessary. Applicants should demonstrate experience in both quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Prior experience working with vulnerable or marginalised populations is highly valued, as is familiarity with stakeholder engaged research, co production approaches, and systems thinking frameworks.

To be considered for this PhD, please follow the instructions, click the ‘Apply’ button above. 

Application deadline: February 17 2026

Interviews for this studentship are expected to take place on Friday 20 March 2026.

Centre-UB studentships cover tuition fees, a maintenance stipend, support for research training, as well as research activity support grants. Due to funding stipulations set by UKRI, we are able to recruit up to 30% of international applicants to the cohort each year. You can find further details at https://www.centre-ub.org/studentships/call-for-applicants/

Informal enquiries about the project prior to application can be directed to Dr Maria Michail (m.michail@bham.ac.uk).