Metaphorum2025: Full Schedule

You will be able to validate your attendance (Check-In to sessions) using your personal schedule.

12:50 BST

'Feeding the model': field methods for the novice VSM practitioner

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

The VSM literature makes reference to the conceptual demands the VSM places on participants. An additional challenge is faced by the novice practitioner - even when workshop and interview participants have a working knowledge of the VSM, how to facilitate the generation and validation of high-quality information. As a novice practitioner myself, my presentation will describe the journey I travelled in trying to gain valid data during a recent VSM application in a national laboratory. It will focus on data collection challenges, and potentially novel methods devised to overcome them. It will also include the outputs in the form of rich pictures (cartoons), recursive mapping, VSM diagram with diagnostic points, and potential self transformation projects.

I would be happy for this session to be Q&A at the end, or more conversational throughout the presentation, with a preference for the former if appropriate. I imagine it taking place in the masterclass, since I would very much welcome the guidance of expert practitioners.

Presenters

Michael Lingard

Principal Training Development Manager, National Physical Laboratory

Degree in Physics from Oxford in the early 1990s led to an early career in science education. Currently working at a national laboratory, leading a team that develops science education for industry, and investigates science skills needs. Highly multidisciplinary work, and a history... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

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12:50 BST

Cybernetic Leadership for AI Agents: A Viable System Model (VSM) Approach to AI Governance and Autonomy

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

Cybernetic Leadership for AI Agents
The increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into organizational decision-making processes necessitates new leadership models, as traditional hierarchical structures prove inadequate for the complexity and autonomy of modern AI systems. The Viable System Model (VSM), developed by Stafford Beer, offers a cybernetic approach to designing resilient, self-regulating AI systems. These systems can operate autonomously while maintaining alignment with human oversight, ethical standards, and organizational objectives. The research proposes a VSM-based leadership framework that structures AI systems to exhibit self-governance, coordination, adaptation, and strategic decision-making capabilities.

The proposed VSM-based leadership model organizes AI functions into five subsystems: System 1 comprises operational AI units executing tasks; System 2 coordinates and stabilizes interactions between AI agents; System 3 manages resources and monitors performance; System 4 focuses on strategic learning and adaptation to external changes; and System 5 ensures ethical oversight and alignment of AI with human values. This model provides a flexible structure that enables both autonomous and collaborative functions between humans and machines.

Human oversight remains crucial in this model, particularly in the domain of ethical control (System 5). While AI agents can autonomously perform operational tasks (System 1), humans retain the role of meta-governors, ensuring adherence to strategic goals and ethical standards. Human-AI collaboration is optimized through clearly defined roles and escalation protocols. This creates a resilient system capable of adapting to complex environments without compromising human values.

Implementation of the VSM-based model occurs in four phases: identifying AI roles, establishing governance policies, developing adaptive learning mechanisms, and iterative testing before scaling. This model offers organizations a scalable solution for governing autonomous AI systems and paves the way for future research on empirical validation and the development of standardized governance metrics. In the long term, AI is expected to transition from being merely a tool to functioning as a co-leader in decision-making processes.

Presenters

Dr. Jan Wehinger

Partner, MHP – A Porsche Company

Dr. Jan Wehinger, born on May 30, 1978, in Braunschweig, Germany, is a seasoned management consultant currently serving as Partner and Global Head of Partner- and Portfolio Management at MHP - A Porsche Company. With an impressive career primarily within the Volkswagen Group, Dr... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

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12:50 BST

How might system science improve human wellbeing?

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

The research question that motivates this paper is: “Why do elite management journals ignore the major problems facing humanity?” I offer seven reasons. Crucially, researchers have neglected how to reformat the self-governing, polycentric “Design Principles” of Ostrom into corporate constitutions, which can benefit all stakeholders. This article also aims to explore the possibility of publishing ideas to save humanity from existential risks posed by environmental degradation. This paper presents a paradigm-changing research agenda that extends the study of management to bottom-up, stakeholder-governed organisations. Cybernetic laws, illustrated by the practices of self-governing biotas, support the work of Ostrom. They explain: (a) why centralised command-and-control hierarchies are dysfunctional, (b) the insights of engineers who design self-governing automobiles to extend Ostrom Design Principles globally, (c) how to introduce into corporate charters the self-governing practices found in all living things. In this way, political democracies become supported rather than undermined by corporations. (d) How a self-funding, politically compelling tax incentive can transform corporations into Stakeholder Common Pool Resources. Their global distribution could help avert a ghastly future. The self-governing Olympic committee illustrates the design of bottom-up global networks. It self-selects its multi-disciplinary, self-governing international sporting networks. These include nested, self-governing national, regional, and community sporting organisations. Like living things and self-governing automobiles, “Markets or States” need not be required. Stakeholder corporations provide a way to engage with 8 billion people in becoming sustainably self-governing with bioregional, self-determined populations, based on their renewable endowments of human well-being resources.

Presenters

Shann Turnbull

Principal, Internatinal Institute for Self-governance

After an MBA from Harvard, Shann became a serial entrepreneur, co-founding two public mutual funds, three publicly traded firms, and other businesses that included a private equity business that acquired control and restructured 14 publicly traded firms. He initiated in 1971 and became... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

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12:50 BST

Reducing inequality to sustain human wellbeing

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

Refer to the Extended Abstract/outline Uploaded below

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

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12:50 BST

The Process Industry Neurology Project

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

Application of the Viable Systems Model to explore the unresolved challenge of digital transformation of the process industries, and development of a framework for implementation.

Presenters

Chris Hamlin

Co-Founder and Lead Advisor, HancockHamlin ltd

Originally a process control engineer, Chris’ more recent work has been in technical and business consultancy, focussing on leadership development and sustainability. He is a qualified Co-Active coach with a passion for helping technical and scientific leaders to broaden their... Read More →

Penny Hamlin

Co-Founder & MD, HancockHamlin ltd

With a masters in Sustainable Development, Penny is passionate about sharing her knowledge and experience of taking a complexity based approach to leadership, management, strategy and innovation.With Chris, she has developed the Complex or Complicated? training program for the IChemE... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

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12:50 BST

The Viable System Model as a Framework for National Sustainability: Insights from the UAE’s Governance Structure

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

This study explores the application of the Viable System Model (VSM) for diagnosing and designing sustainable development initiatives across recursive levels: community, city, county, and nation. It positions the VSM as a cybernetic tool for understanding and structuring governance systems capable of adapting to dynamic environmental and societal challenges, both present and future.
Grounded in Stafford Beer’s principles of organizational cybernetics, the study introduces the core design criteria of the VSM for sustainable governance and examines its complementarity with other systemic approaches to sustainability. A systematic review supports the relevance of the VSM across geographical and organizational contexts, showcasing its value in managing complexity and fostering viability from micro-organizations to national systems.
Despite growing interest in systemic governance, few studies have examined how cybernetic models, such as the VSM, can be scaled to address structural and coordination barriers in national sustainability strategies. This research addresses that gap by analyzing the case of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—a federation that has actively adopted the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through national vision documents and policy frameworks.
While the UAE has established a national committee and institutional mechanisms to guide SDG implementation, progress remains fragmented, particularly beyond Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Using VSM criteria, the study identifies structural limitations in the country’s existing governance architecture, highlighting missed opportunities for effective communication, integration, and feedback across federal and local systems.
By reframing the UAE's governance challenges through the lens of organizational cybernetics, this study demonstrates how VSM principles can inform the design of more coherent, adaptive, and participatory governance systems. It evaluates the advantages and trade-offs of adopting the VSM compared to other governance models, providing cyberneticians with insights into the real-world applications of cybernetic theory in complex, multi-level governance environments.
The paper concludes with implications for policymakers, regulators, and sustainability stakeholders in the Gulf region. It contributes to the expanding literature on the use of cybernetics and systems thinking in sustainable development and public governance.

Presenters

Dr Iffat Sabir Chaudhry

Deputy Dean of College of Business; Associate Professor, Al Ain University, United Arab Emirates

Dr. Iffat Sabir Chaudhry is an Associate Professor of Management and Deputy Dean at the College of Business, Al Ain University, United Arab Emirates. She got her PhD in Management from University of Hull, United Kingdom. With over a decade of experience across the UAE and Oman, her... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

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12:50 BST

The Viable System Model for Strengthening the Resilience of Rural Communities in Mexico City's Water and Tourism System

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

In the face of increasing water scarcity and environmental pressures, rural communities with a tourism vocation, located in the natural regions of southern Mexico City, are struggling to preserve their ecological and cultural integrity. These communities, whose livelihoods rely on a close interaction with local aquatic ecosystems, represent complex systems where sustainability challenges cannot be addressed in isolation. This contribution presents a systemic diagnosis of organisational viability and resilience in such contexts, using the Viable System Model (VSM). The VSM is proposed as a reflective tool to support capacity-building processes that enhance the internal coherence and adaptive intelligence of these systems.
Drawing on previous empirical findings and systemic modelling, an abstract representation is developed of tourism–water systems as organisational structures with emerging teleologies. Additionally, the use of a rich picture methodology made it possible to uncover relationships between entrepreneurship, weak institutional coordination, and fragmented environmental policies. This vision is interpreted through the lens of the VSM to identify structural limitations to resilience, such as the absence of coordination mechanisms and the disconnect between short-term responses and long-term sustainable strategies. The relevance of developing recursive governance structures is also explored, particularly those capable of managing complexity at multiple levels, in alignment with shared values such as water stewardship, ecological responsibility, and community self-determination.
By situating rural tourism communities as viable systems in need of structural reinforcement, this work contributes to the discussion on organisational resilience in action. It highlights the potential of the VSM not only as a diagnostic tool, but also as a means to foster systemic learning, shared sensemaking, and transformation within socioecological contexts.

Presenters

Zeltzin Pérez Matamoros

PhD Student, Intituto Politécnico Nacional

Zeltzin Pérez Matamoros is a doctoral student in Systems Engineering at the National Polytechnic Institute, where she conducts research on sustainable water management, systemic governance, and tourism-based social entrepreneurship in rural communities. Her academic work integrates... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

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global Y

12:50 BST

Transduction and Identity: process and dynamics of adaptation in Viable Systems.

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

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Presenters

camilo osejo bucheli

Tenured professor., Universidad de Nariño

Professor of operational research at the business administration school at the Nariño university in Colombia.research interests in social and organizational cybernetics, applied to social and solidarity economy, and popular economy.

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

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12:50 BST

Two possibilities: (presentation): Humanizing the Corporation: Cultivating Collaborative Intelligence in Regenerative Ecosystems. (workshop): Designing for Regeneration: Activating Collaborative Intelligence in Living Systems):

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

As organizing committee, feel free to make a selection among the two proposals.

Abstract for a 45 minute talk
Title: Humanizing the Corporation: Cultivating Collaborative Intelligence in Regenerative Ecosystems
Abstract:
As our organizational systems confront ecological, social, and cultural limits, regenerative leadership offers a way to move beyond conventional sustainability models toward living, adaptive systems that generate well-being for all stakeholders. This talk explores the role of collaborative intelligence—the capacity of diverse actors to co-sense, co-create, and co-evolve—at the heart of building regenerative ecosystems.
Drawing from the book Humanizing the Corporation, this session introduces a principle-driven leadership approach grounded in systemic and sense-making dynamics. It highlights how the creative tensions between stability and diversity (in system design) and autonomy and coherence (in meaning-making) generate the disequilibrium needed for collective differentiation and reintegration—a process essential for evolving toward more resilient, viable futures.
The session connects these ideas to the Viable System Model (VSM), showing how collaborative intelligence can be cultivated not only structurally, but culturally and ethically. It offers insights from real-world practice and invites reflection on how leaders and teams can navigate complexity by activating regenerative processes within their own systems.

Key Takeaways:
Understanding regenerative leadership as a dynamic interplay of systems and sense-making.
How to harness creative tensions to catalyze transformation.
Ways to foster collaborative intelligence across organizational boundaries.

Abstract for 90-Minute Workshop
Title: Designing for Regeneration: Activating Collaborative Intelligence in Living Systems
Abstract:
How can we design organizational and community ecosystems that not only survive disruption but thrive through it? This experiential workshop explores how collaborative intelligence can be intentionally cultivated through regenerative leadership principles to support the emergence of viable, adaptive, and humane systems.
Building on the framework introduced in Humanizing the Corporation, participants will engage with the two core systemic tensions at the heart of regenerative transformation: Stability–Diversity in system design. Autonomy–Coherence in meaning-making.

Participants will explore how these tensions generate disequilibrium, leading to differentiation and, ultimately, integration at a higher level of coherence—echoing Simondon’s theory of individuation and adaptation. Using tools inspired by the Viable System Model (VSM), they will map governance, roles, and communication flows that support resilience and co-evolution.
The workshop combines short inputs, collaborative mapping, reflective dialogue, and case-based exercises to explore how to shift from extractive to generative organizational paradigms.

Key Questions:
How can we intentionally design for creative disequilibrium and system evolution?
What structures and practices enable collaborative intelligence across diverse agents?
How can regenerative principles be applied practically within the constraints of real-world organizations?

Methodology:
Brief conceptual framing (15 mins)
Group inquiry using VSM-inspired systemic mapping (30 mins)
Case-based reflection on real-world applications (15 mins)
Facilitated dialogue and collective synthesis (30 mins)

Intended Audience:
Leaders, practitioners, and system designers interested in crossing disciplinary boundaries to co-create viable, regenerative futures.

Presenters

Jan De Visch

Executive Professor/ Managing Director, Flanders Business School (Catholic University of Leuven)/Connect & Transform

Jan De Visch's experience as a co-author of "Humanizing the Corporation: A Regenerative Leadership Playbook"(2025) is deeply rooted in his extensive work bridging academic rigor and practical application in systems thinking and organizational transformation.As an Executive Professor... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:50 - 12:50 BST

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Metaphorum2025

From £50.00