“To Be and not To Be, that Is the System”: The First Hybrid Syntegration
Type
book section
Date Issued
2024
Author(s)
Abstract
Report and reflection on the first hybrid Team Syntegrity project, which took place in 1995-96. An infoset of 30 cyberneticists from around the world engaged in a collective writing effort to create a knowledge product. This was intended to be a festschrift for the 70th birthday of Stafford Beer, the father of organizational cybernetics. The lead question which furnished a first guideline, was: “What is the (actual and potential) con-tribution of cybernetics in general, and Stafford’s work, in particular, to organization and society?” The festschrift was to be an electronic book. For novices the chapter in-troduces Team Syntegrity. The festschrift syntegration consisted (1) of a local 3-day-event, in which all members of the infoset gathered to elaborate the content of the compendium, and (2) two phases developed with the help of electronic means, at the beginning of the process for the collection of issues and ideas, and later in the process, for the write-up of the chapters of the book in 12 topics. The publications of the edited book type often represent mere collections of articles that show little integration. Canalizing the high potential of 30 co-authors into a coherent, integrated effort that would lead to a genuine knowledge product was not a trivial issue. The directors of the project, Raúl Espejo and Markus Schwaninger succeeded in designing a project that worked. The participants were highly motivated. The venture involved complex logis-tics. The structure was conducive to an impressive integration of all efforts. At the end, the festschrift materialized as a fully integrated whole. It was handed over to Stafford Beer on 26th September 1996.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to education
Refereed
Yes
Book title
Addressing Challenges of an Uncertain World – A CyberSystemic Approach
Publisher place
Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia
Contact Email Address
markus.schwaninger@unisg.ch
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Name
To be and not to be_Syntegration_Espejo Festschrift_2024.pdf
Size
3.05 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
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