Variety Engineering – A Cybernetic Concept with Practical Implications

Management in systemic terms means to cope with complexity. Ross
Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety shows the way, - to maintain the varieties of
interacting systems in balance. To denote that process, we use the cybernetic
concept of «Variety Engineering», which we also formalize. It refers to processes
of mutual complexity amplification and attenuation by interacting agents. The
purpose of this contribution is to explore ways of coping with complexity by
means of Variety Engineering. The abstract concepts are illustrated by examples
from ecological, social, and economic contexts. The cases in point will be used
to demonstrate how complexity can be managed, to foster sustainability.