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POSIWID - The Purpose of a System is what it Does

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POSIWID (the purpose of the system is what it does) is a way of thinking about complex systems, giving us a different perspective on a range of social and political issues.

When we understand the complex loops that maintain the status quo, we are better equipped to make positive changes in organizations and society.

 

POSIWID blog

The origins of POSIWID thinking

The term POSIWID was coined by Stafford Beer. It was picked up and developed further in a trio of books written in the 1980s by engineer Bill Livingston. (See review by The Peripatetic Philosopher.)
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Recent books that use POSIWID thinking

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Articles and blogs exploring POSIWID

POSIWID blog
Memetix
"Although it is dangerous to use the POSIWID principle to infer intent on the part of individual actors in a system, it is useful for analyzing the emergent behavior of a system. It certainly cuts through a lot of crap about unintended consequences."
The One Percenters
"Learn to separate beguiling economic theory from real world facts by applying an acronym from systems theory: POSIWID. Taking America as a starting point, how has the consensus treated its wealthiest one percent? What has it done?"
Life Support Systems
Interventions in Complex Socio-Technical Systems,
by Michael Jacobs and Aidan Ward
DUCKPOND
A micro world of emergent clarity with much confusion and furious paddling beneath the surface.

Internet Resources

blogs and wikis

POSIWID blog
Topical applications of POSIWID thinking by John Smith, Richard Veryard and Aidan Ward
POSIWID wiki
Notes towards a POSIWID book by Amicus Rex
POSIWID links
various items tagged "POSIWID"

Approach

The POSIWID principle applies a kind of backwards logic to systems thinking - from effects to causes.

If a complex system produces a given outcome, or if a given outcome emerges from a complex system, then we may assume some purpose linked to this outcome.

This is a useful guide for investigation and interpretation. Ignore the official purpose of the system, ignore what the designers and custodians of a system say, and concentrate on its actual behaviour.

Conversely, if there is some unexplained pattern of behaviour, look for a system whose purpose this pattern reveals. (We often can't see the system directly, but we infer its hidden presence because this helps to make sense of some observed pattern of behaviour.)

Critique

Unthinking use of the POSIWID principle can lead to gross error.

Many users of the POSIWID principle seem to assume that system scope and behaviour is unproblematic - that outcomes can be unambiguously attributed to some system or other.

A complex system apparently produces a diverse set of outcomes. According to the POSIWID principle, all these outcomes may be identified as purposes. A complex system typically contains many conflicting or contradictory purposes.

Many of the purposes of a system cannot be observed in its normal behaviour because they are contingent purposes - the behaviours may only appear in extreme circumstances.

Furthermore, some behaviours are generated by the interference between many systems. It is of course possible to frame the interference within a larger system, whose purpose is presumably to generate this interference and its effects, but this framing is not generally a useful one.

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Logical Foundations of POSIWID

What makes backwards reasoning valid?

POSIWID represents a kind of backwards reasoning - - from effects to cause. Various philosophers and logicians have discussed whether this kind of reasoning can ever be justified. Vote here for your favourite backwardian.

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Teleology

Form follows function0 points

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Final Cause

Aristotle0 points

3

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Ideology

From Marx to Gramsci0 points

4

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Abduction

From Peirce to Bateson0 points

5

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Engineering

Stafford Beer0 points

Reader Feedback

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  • Reply
    puranroy Dec 22, 2010 @ 12:34 pm | delete
    This is little tough for me to understand. :(
  • Reply
    William Livingston Mar 21, 2010 @ 1:50 pm | delete
    I heard Stafford give a speech in Orlando in 1986 where he used "The purpose of a system is what it does." Using the concept so much I found the phrase ungainly I came up with POSIWID as a code word. In 1993 when I went to see Stafford in Toronto, I presented him with a pen I had engraved with POSIWID. He sort of chuckled and that was the end of it.

    POSIWID is always used as an absolute. That is, no assignations about purpose are invented. What it does is, by definition, its purpose. I have never encountered a disconfirming example, nor have any of the thousands that have adopted the concept. Of course, it all started with Ashby.
  • Reply
    Chris Bird Mar 30, 2009 @ 8:06 am | delete
    The "Purpose" in POSIWID is an unfortunate use of the term. Purpose implies a look forward a view into the future. However in POSIWID the idea is to look backwards. Just because someone uses a screwdriver to stir paint doesn't make paint stirring a purpose of a screwdriver. It does make it a use and it is interesting to explore why it is used that way, but that isn't a purpose.

    Some reasons why people might choose a screwdriver to stir the paint include:
    They didn't have anything else
    The screwdriver was going to be harmed less than the pen
    They were too lazy/inform to pick up the stirrer that was on the ground - the screwdriver was easier
    They wanted to annoy the screwdriver's owner
    Because the stirrer was dirty and the screwdriver clean

    When wanting to understand the reasons why it is very valuable to go from effect to cause (think root-cause analysis appraaches), and don't expect to find only one.
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RichardVeryard

Writer: systems thinking for demanding change.

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