This week’s newsletter captures the key insights and my reflections from Part 2 of my conversation with Abdul Aziz, Director & Chief Architect at Requisite Variety Solutions.
In this episode, Abdul explores the Viable Operating Model (VOM) and its foundation in systems thinking and cybernetics. He emphasizes that a system's true purpose is defined by its actions rather than its stated goals, highlighting the "fantasy gap" between organizational promises and actual performance.
He argues for a shift from mechanistic, clock-like management toward a more adaptive, cloud-like approach that balances short-term stability with long-term survival. The discussion covers practical approaches like RAEWCI analysis, which distinguishes between responsibility and authority to avoid the pitfalls of deskilling workers during the rise of AI.
Abdul advocates for transformed leadership rooted in humility and continuous learning to foster pluralism and resilience within complex corporate environments. The episode closes with practical starting points for executives.
"Ashby's Law... is as important to managers as Einstein's law of relativity to physicists."
Podcast Video
Members of the Cyb3rSyn Community can watch/discuss the podcast episode on the www.cyb3rsynlabs.com portal or the mobile app (iOS and Android). The video is also on YouTube here 👇🏾
Key Insights and My Reflections
In this conversation with Abdul Aziz, we hit on a realization that should unsettle any executive: Most organizations are failing not because of a lack of talent or capital, but because they are "gaming" themselves.
We’ve all seen it… The "will to power" and tribal survival instincts within a company often override the mission. Leaders set KPIs, and instead of better outcomes, they get "optics." They get data that looks good on a dashboard while the actual health of the business erodes.
This isn't just a management failure; it’s a structural one. We are trying to run complex, social "cloud" systems with mechanistic "clockwork" tools. To bridge this gap, we need to move beyond the superficial “transformation”.
Here are the key takeaways and my reflections from the conversation...
Table of Contents
The "Fantasy Gap": Why Stated Values Don't Matter
Planning Concurrently: The Trap of Sequential Horizons
Authority vs. Responsibility: Navigating the "Deskilling Trap"
Control is Not a Straight Line: The Algedonic Channel
From "Clockwork" to "Clouds": The "Yo-Yo" Technique
Grip, Reach, and Humility