[Huh, haven’t heard from Jeff Sussna in ages – used to love his stuff – hope you’re doing well Jeff, if you read this!]

Episode 15 • August 4, 2019

Jeff Sussna on Cybernetics

“My business is predicated on the idea that it’s possible to move fast without breaking things.”

https://theinformed.life/2019/08/04/episode-15-jeff-sussna/

The challenge of practicing systemic design (or any work that aims to shift deeper roots and structures) is a systemic issue in itself.

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 & 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 for the 𝗟𝘂𝗰𝘆 𝗟𝗼𝗵 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 at #SysPrac25

We are delighted to invite students and apprentices to submit case studies for the Lucy Loh Memorial Prize at SysPrac25 – a celebration of Systems Thinking in Practice.

The winning entry will receive a £𝟱𝟬𝟬 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 and be awarded the Lucy Loh Memorial Prize. Runners-up will be recognised with certificates across several categories.

📘 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘁:

We welcome brief case studies or project summaries (max 800 words) describing a real-world project or intervention you carried out as a student or apprentice.

Your submission should include:

• Situation & Context
• Practitioner(s) Involved
• System of Interest
• Approach Taken
• Models & Insights Developed
• Key Interventions
• Reflections, Afterthoughts & Further Work

An independent panel will judge submissions using criteria based on these headings.

📅 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲:

Friday 22 August 2025

📧𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼: contact@sysprac25.org

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲?

Be recognised among a global community of systems practitioners. Gain visibility, receive feedback, and celebrate your journey in systems thinking.

𝗦𝘆𝘀𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝟮𝟱 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀:

🌍 Over 45 international speakers
⏱ 48+ hours of interactive content
🎤 Keynotes, panels, talks, jam sessions & workshops
🏆 Awards and celebrations

Explore the live schedule here:
🔗 https://lnkd.in/2dxsnq90
👉 Register & learn more: https://lnkd.in/be22ddap

We can’t wait to welcome students, apprentices, and practitioners from around the world.

𝙅𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩, 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤-𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜.

hashtag#SystemsThinking hashtag#SystemsThinkers hashtag#Apprentices hashtag#Students

[Since Co-ordinated Management of Meaning, which I love, is featured heavily in this well-worth-it weekly email, I’m pasting the entire content here (including the appropriately self-referential Eno/Beer links link), and also signposting to

CMM Institute https://cmminstitute.org/

and a previous CMM roundup post here:

]

This week in systemic design

Coordinated Management of Meaning Institute (CMMi) at RSD14-ONLINEOCT 11—Relational Connectedness. CMMi at RSD14-ONLINE is day for designers to explore the question of how we would go about designing better social worlds through our communication, relationships, and the larger systems in which we are a part. Check out the CMMi articles featured below. Categories: Announcements, Calendar, Coordinated Management of Meaning, RSD14GO TO ARTICLE

CMMi—Co-Creating Social Worlds in Relationship with OthersAbbie VanMeter: CMM has evolved into an important perspective and practice that foregrounds relationality as central to meaning-making, is increasingly applicable in everyday life, and remains rooted in a strong theoretical foundation. Categories: Coordinated Management of Meaning, Essays + Reports, RSD14, Systemic DesignGO TO ARTICLE

CMMi—On Relational Construction with Sheila McNameeCMM community conversations—What are you constructing in your relationships? Sheila McNamee’s work is focused on dialogic transformation within a variety of social and institutional contexts including psychotherapy, education, healthcare, organizations, and communities. Categories: Audio + Video, Coordinated Management of MeaningGO TO ARTICLE

CMMi—On Designing Complex Conversations with Celiane Camargo-BorgesCMM community conversations—How do we understand the complexity of who we are and who we are becoming? Abbie and Celiane use social construction as a framework to explore forming futures, intent v. impact, “good” design, and sustainability transitions. Categories: Audio + Video, Coordinated Management of MeaningGO TO ARTICLE

CMMi—Predictions, Expectations, and the Neurobiology of Sensemaking with Rachel LilleyCMM community conversations—Abbie and Rachel are two ’embodied minds’ exploring the neurobiology of sensemaking. Rachel Lilley’s RSD13 keynote and Sightlines article are available on RSDsymposium.org. Categories: Audio + Video, Coordinated Management of MeaningGO TO ARTICLE

CMMi(ish)—Design Thinking and Social ConstructionCamargo-Borges and McNamee’s 2022 book introduces the constructionist research design process as a framework for research that is creative, transformative and innovative. The link goes to the first 19-pages. Categories: Books + Guides, Coordinated Management of Meaning, Design ThinkingGO TO ARTICLE

Combining Subjectivity and Objectivity in Systems Thinking: The SOS sandwichJames Stauch and Daniela Papi-Thornton on seeking to understand, map, and then act to intervene in a system. James is presenting an online book talk on The 55 Minutes, Oct 6 at RSD14-RSDX. Categories: Announcements, i2Insights, Systems ThinkingGO TO ARTICLE

Brian Eno and Cybernetics (link collection)Very cool link collection from Benjamin Taylor. Cybernetics and Brian Eno—musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. Categories: Cybernetics, Systems Community of InquiryGO TO ARTICLE

Systems Thinking Practitioners Conference, Milton Keynes, UKSEP 3–4. Final Line-Up announced for SysPrac25—45 speakers. Keynotes: Mike Jackson, Alison Guthrie-Wrenn, Ray Ison, and Patrick Hoverstadt. Topics include VSM, Patterns of Strategy, and System Dynamics. Early-bird pricing to July 15. Categories: Calendar, SiCO, Systems Community of InquiryGO TO ARTICLE

The Skills for Planet BlueprintA new resource from the Design Council, created to close the green skills gap in design. It offers shared language, practical steps, and a mindset shift toward regenerative design—part of an ambitious plan to upskill one million designers by 2030. Categories: Books + Guides, Design, Design Council UKGO TO ARTICLE

[Seems like an odd definition of ‘objective’, to me – underlying problematic dualism if you have to say ‘true objectivity is out of reach but we should strive for it’ other than as a clear metaphor – and it’s clearly a burger…]

July 15, 2025

By James Stauch and Daniela Papi-Thornton.

[Today’s SCiO open event – https://stream.syscoi.com/2025/01/29/cybernetics-and-music-links-and-scio-uk-virtual-open-meeting-july-2025-online-free/ – let me to get these Eno and cybernetics links – and previous SysCoI links at base]

• Four Conversations with Brian Eno – Frank Rose

Eno describes cybernetics as his “secret career” and discusses his 1997 article “Generating and Organizing Variety in the Arts,” which draws directly from adaptive-systems thinking programmablemutter.com+15Frank Rose+15Henry Jenkins+15.

• Brian Eno, Peter Schmidt, and Cybernetics – Rhizome

Shows how Eno—from art school onward—applied cybernetic ideas to group dynamics in the studio and tape-loop processes, drawing inspiration from Stafford Beer’s managerial systems researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk+5Rhizome+5Henry Jenkins+5.

• Interview with Geeta Dayal (via Henry Jenkins)

Eno reflects on his 1960s art-school education (Roy Ascott’s “Groundcourse”) and how theorists like Ashby, Pask, and Beer shaped his thinking Rhizome+6Henry Jenkins+6moredarkthanshark.org+6.

• How Norbert Wiener Invented Cybernetics and Brian Eno – Dazed

Details how Wiener’s and Beer’s work influenced Eno’s creative processes, including ambient pieces that rely on feedback loops Frank Rose+2Dazed Digital+2Rhizome+2.

• More Dark Than Shark Interviews

• studint (Nov/Dec 1976): Eno explicitly defines “variety” from Ashby’s cybernetics and explores its musical implications The Crypto Syllabus+15moredarkthanshark.org+15Henry Jenkins+15.
• waves (Nov 2012): Relates his art-school exposure to feedback/control theory, especially Beer’s work moredarkthanshark.org.

📑 Supplementary Papers & Essays

• “Living World Dynamics – or What Brian Eno Can Teach Us…” (Nordes)
  Explores Eno’s use of Stafford Beer’s phrase: “ride on the dynamics of the system in the direction you want to go”, demonstrating how cybernetics shaped his creative method The Crypto Syllabus+5archive.nordes.org+5WIRED+5.
• ResearchSpace PDF on “Cybernetic systems of music creation”
  Considers how Eno (and David Byrne) applied systems thinking—drawing on Wiener & Beer—to generative music researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk.

🎧 Bonus Resource

• YouTube video: THE INTERVIEW #30 – Brian Eno
  Although not entirely cybernetics-focused, Eno discusses creative systems and structure. It’s a recent—though broader—conversation PULSE+15YouTube+15synthforbreakfast.nl+15Henry Jenkins+11music.hyperreal.org+11Coventry University+11.

🔗 Quick-Access Links

• Four Conversations with Brian Eno – Frank Rose
• Brian Eno, Peter Schmidt, and Cybernetics – Rhizome
• Interview with Geeta Dayal – Henry Jenkins
• How Norbert Wiener Invented Cybernetics and Brian Eno – Dazed
• More Dark Than Shark interviews (Archive site)

Previous links:

• https://stream.syscoi.com/2019/04/10/generative-music-brian-eno-in-motion-magazine/
• https://stream.syscoi.com/2024/12/17/the-ai-we-deserve-evgeny-morozov-with-responses-from-brian-eno-audrey-tang-terry-winograd-bruce-schneier-nathan-sanders-sarah-myers-west-amba-kak-wendy-liu-edward-ongwe/
• https://stream.syscoi.com/2023/09/03/project-cybersyn-stafford-beer-in-allendes-chile-1970s-brian-eno-may-2016/
• https://stream.syscoi.com/2023/07/27/evgeny-morozov-interview-with-brian-eno/
• https://stream.syscoi.com/2021/06/01/brian-eno-peter-schmidt-and-cybernetics-rhizome/
• https://stream.syscoi.com/2021/02/14/changing-the-system-brian-eno-and-james-thornton-in-conversation-science-and-industry-museum/
• https://stream.syscoi.com/2019/04/17/pace-layering-how-complex-systems-learn-and-keep-learning-stewart-brand/
• https://stream.syscoi.com/2019/04/10/generative-music-brian-eno-in-motion-magazine/

📅 12–21 September 2025
📍 Online via Zoom
💸 Free and open to all

An international, online gathering of students, researchers, and systems thinkers exploring Systems Process Theory and celebrating the lifetime contribution of Dr. Len Troncale.

What to expect:

Talks, panels, and hands-on workshops

Networking with fellow systems thinkers

Abstract submissions welcome (ideas, talks, workshops)

🔗 Register & submit your abstract at https://troncale.sched.com
🔗 More about Dr. Troncale and Systems Process Theory https://lentroncale.com

[An example, recently shared on LinkedIn, of the ‘most popular papers’ from the Murmurations Journal]

https://murmurations.cloud/index.php/pub/index

Published: Dec 31, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.28963/2.2.2

Keywords:

systemic living, transmaterial worlding, posthuman, co-construction, co-inhabitation, new materialism

Main Article Content

Gail Simon

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0838-5713

Leah K Salter

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0458-5216

Abstract

In this paper we reframe systemic social construction as transmaterial worlding to include human and non-human participants. We discuss what it means to be human in the Anthropocene era with reference to posthuman new materialist theory. We introduce systemic living as onto-epistemological becoming, movement and meaning-making practices in and between human and non-human parts of our worlds. The paper discusses power relations and ways of bringing forth lost-destroyed indigenous ways of knowing which make time and space for new understandings and experimental responses to what we are making together at a local and global level. We discuss how transmaterial worlding requires a new understanding by humans to see their place in this planet as co-inhabitation. We offer examples of transmaterial worlding from across different contexts and suggest some systemic questions for how we can live ethically in a transmaterial world that honours societal, cultural, professional and other kinds of situated knowledge and know-how.

[A classic episode, with real interest in terms of thinking about evolution per se, multiple solutions to existential problems, and the evolution of complexity. Stuart Brand would probably love it! Currently listening to Ben Sweeting giving the Ranulph Glanville Lecture at the ISSS conference, to which this is tangentially relevant – how can an organisation grow ‘along Galilean lines’… we don’t know exactly what that means.

Ben’s relevant slide

]

In Our Time

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the diverse ways animals extract oxygen from air, from the highly tuned lungs that enabled dinosaurs to grow tall and birds to fly high, to buccal pumping.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002d8t2

https://medium.com/kybernetikum/das-human-centric-viable-system-model-hc-vsm-eine-weiterentwicklung-des-stafford-beer-vsm-zur-973710abc9a2

Article is in German – as Das Human-Centric Viable System Model (HC-VSM): Eine Weiterentwicklung des Stafford Beer VSM zur Integration psychologischer, soziologischer und kultureller Dimensionen – you will need to use translate (free in Chrome and most browsers)

We’re thrilled to unveil the full line-up for the SysPrac25 Systems Thinking Practitioner’s Conference – two packed days of exploration, insight, and innovation in systems thinking practice.

Early Bird Discount Ends July 15 at Midnight!

Additional discounts available for apprentices and SCiO members.

 Secure your place now:     Book Now

With 45 speakers and 48 hours of topical content, here’s what to expect from this year’s conference:

Featured Talks, Panels & Workshops (A–Z by first presenter):

• Chris Abbott – Building and Sustaining Complexity Capabilities in Public Service Organisations
• Chris Abbott & Simon MacCormac – Making Missions (and Projects) Possible with Systems Thinking
• Jaime Bainbridge – Final title TBC
• Nick Beech – Final title TBC
• Ollie Bream McIntosh – Systemic Investing and AI
• Mike Burrows – Introducing the Deliberately Adaptive Organisation
• Ken Carroll & Simon MacCormac – Collaboration and Complexity (Workshop)
• Lauren Clarke – How Can Systems Thinking Help Tackle the High-Stakes Policy Challenge of Enabling Secure, Trusted International Collaboration in Academic Research?
• Dr Tim Curtis – Recursive Canvases in Management Consulting: Applied Systems Thinking or Not?
• Gareth David – Debunking the Agile Panacea – Using Systems Thinking to Explore Where Agile Will Work Well
• Jan De Visch – Humanising Systems (Workshop)
• Jennifer Easton-Groves – Systemic Enquiry into Operational and Cultural Behaviours in a Financially Challenged Higher Education Environment
• Dr Anne Gambles – Thinking Differently Together: A Long-Lived Systemic Inquiry into Growing Colleagues’ Systems Thinking in Practice at The Open University
• Jane Graham – Strengthening the Connection Between Relational Leadership and Practice with Systems Thinking
• Alison Guthrie-Wrenn – Opening Keynote (Title TBC)
• Panel – Reflections and Questions: Alison Guthrie-Wrenn, Patrick Hoverstadt, Dr Mike Jackson, OBE & Dr Ray Ison
• Timo Hämäläinen & Janne J. Korhonen – Complexity Governance: Structural and Cognitive Underpinnings of Adaptive Institutions
• Patrick Hoverstadt – Viable Systems Model (VSM): Balancing Complexity (Workshop)
• Richard Hughes – Promoting Psychosocial Well-Being of Young People with Cancer Through Systems Thinking
• David Ing & Zaid Khan – Pacing Changes with Living Systems: Rhythmic Threads in Textures, Rhythmic Textures of Threads
• Dr Ray Ison – Keynote (Title TBC)
• Panel – The Future of Systems Thinking: Dr Mike Jackson, OBE & Patrick Hoverstadt
• Mike Jones & Carla Owens – Patterns of Strategy (POS) (Workshop)
• Gary Kass – Understanding the Impact of Sustainability Intermediaries in Complex Adaptive Systems
• Dr Artem Khudenko – A Sustainability Innovation Challenge: Systems Thinking Meets Design Thinking
• Tony Korycki – Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH) (Workshop)
• Louise Le Gat – Changing Mindsets (Workshop)
• Simon MacCormac – Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) (Workshop)
• Benjamin Taylor – Systemic Consulting (Workshop)
• Carla Owens & Nicola Reeves – Making a Meaningful Impact on the System of Animal Use in Medical Research
• Anca Popa – Overcoming Boundaries Between Stakeholders for Project Success
• Nicola Reeves – I Wanted to Say “No” – Instead, I Said “Wait”
• Dr Martin Reynolds – Towards ‘Requisite Systems Literacy’ for Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Challenges
• Carola Ritzinger-Roll – Cybernetic KPIs in Medium-Sized Companies – A Doctoral Project
• Gavin Roberts – Systems Thinking Principles (Workshop)
• Ian Rosam – Digitisation, AI, Big Data + Systems Thinking: Transforming Audits and Value Creation
• James Stauch – Navigating Problems, Revealing Systems, and Asking Beautiful Questions
• Robin Stowell – Boosting Organisational Performance Through Personnel Availability
• Ed Straw – 50 Years of Systems Thinking in Government, Society and Life
• Dr Matvei Tobman – The Viable System Model as a Framework for AI Integration in Healthcare
• Al Walker – Regulatory Strategy Design in the Construction Products Sector
• Dr Kim Warren – Systems Dynamics (SD) (Workshop)
• Tom Watson – Beyond the Tool Kit (Workshop)
• Andrea Weierich – Using Vester’s Sensitivity Model to Build a Flywheel in IT Leadership Teams
• Ed van der Winden & Vincent van der Lubbe – Systems Practice for Everyone – Simple, but Not Easy

 More details here:                https://www.systemspractice.org/SYSPRAC25

We can’t wait to welcome systems thinkers from across the world to #SysPrac25. Let’s shape better futures together.

#SystemsThinking #SystemsThinkers #ProblemSolving #Innovation

by red flower | Jul 7, 2025 | The Alternate Feed | 0 comments

Video:

Welcome to TYS, an interactive learning resource focused on systems thinking and systems engineering. In a world of abundant intelligence, systems thinking is becoming more important than ever. This site aims to help you understand complex systems, their interactions, and how to design and manage them effectively.

https://teachyourselfsystems.com/about

By The Civil Rights Engineer Who Heals Through Documentation

Published by Caia Tech

https://theburden.org/