Greeting

Citation

Ackoff, R.L. (2007), "Greeting", Kybernetes, Vol. 36 No. 9/10. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.2007.06736iaa.002

Greeting

Every system has a defining function in a larger system of which it is a part. This function determines the properties the whole should have and these determine the kind of parts the whole requires. This is inculcated in architects who always begin with the function of the building: who it should serve and how; then what parts are required, what their properties should be, and how they should interact. This is why so many architects have graduated to social system designers.

In analysis one begins by identifying the parts of a whole and then assigning properties to them. Then the properties of the whole are derived from those of the parts. In design (which is synthetic, as opposed to, analytic thinking) one begins by identifying the properties one wants the whole to have. One then extracts from the concept of the whole the set of necessary parts and their properties. The properties of the parts are derived from those assigned to the whole, not the reverse as is the case in analysis.

Little wonder that architecture and social system design are close together; design is the sine qua non of both social system thinking and architecture.

Russell L. Ackoff