Taming the
wicked
No definitive formulation, no stopping rule and no final test of a solution. Every attempt counts, and every wicked problem is a symptom of another.
Rittel and Webber, 1973
Applied complexity science, since 1993
Designing resilient architectures for sustainable institutional governance.
We apply advanced systems science to help public and private sector organisations build adaptive frameworks that anticipate disruption, integrate complex operations and ensure long-term structural viability.
Taming the wicked, the messy, the fluid
the
messy
Problems that interact with other problems. Broken into independent parts, a mess only intensifies. It has to be seen as part of a larger whole.
Ackoff, 1974
the
fluid
Power embedded across extended value chains keeps the problem statement moving. Every context is unique, a fingerprint of its own.
Udemans, 2008
and keeping them
viable
Problems like these are rarely solved, only tamed, through continuous reflexive action. For 32 years Cyberia Group has used open-systems science to keep institutions viable.
Taming strategies, chapter 2.2
2.1System classes from the book
Know which system you are in
Every intervention starts with a diagnosis. Four system classes call for four different ways of working, and most of the big challenges live in the fourth.
Class 4
Complex adaptive
Many parts connecting freely, learning from their environment to stay viable, like an ecosystem or a society.
Use with care. Every classification carries the unstated assumptions of the people who made it.
Hover a quadrant to watch each class behave. Click one to keep it selected.
Proven sovereign and global institutional impact
We deliver validated, multi-year applied complexity interventions for sovereign governments, international agencies and multinational corporations.
- High-stakes business risk management
- National ICT policy
- Systemic public sector reform
-
Republic of South Africa
Business continuity and disaster containment
Designed systemic resilience and containment frameworks at national scale.
-
Government of Namibia
Hybrid contingency planning
Developed macro-level national contingency structures.
-
World Bank, United Nations and government ministries
Global information and communication technology strategies
Co-created comprehensive ICT strategies with international agencies and national ministries.
-
National departments
Blueprint design for state-owned entities
Blueprint designs for state-owned organisations and agencies across national departments.
1.3Systems science from the book
Where to intervene in a system
Twelve leverage points, ranked from weakest to strongest. The deeper you go, the more a change moves the whole system, and the harder that change is to make.
- 12
Numbers
Constants and parameters such as subsidies, taxes and standards. The most visible and the least effective.
Takes more than 75% of our attention - 11
Buffers
The size of stabilising stocks relative to their flows: reserves, inventory, savings.
- 10
Stocks and flows
The physical structure and its intersections. Powerful at design time, slow and costly to change once built.
- 09
Delays
The lag before effects appear. Long delays cause oscillation, overshoot and collapse.
- 08
Balancing feedback
Self-correcting loops that keep important stocks within safe bounds, like a thermostat.
- 07
Reinforcing feedback
Self-amplifying loops, the source of growth, explosion, erosion and collapse.
- 06
Information flows
Who has access to information. Delivering feedback where it was missing is cheap and powerful.
- 05
Rules
Incentives, punishments and constraints. The deepest malfunctions sit in the rules and in who holds power over them.
- 04
Self-organisation
The power to add, change and evolve system structure. In social systems we call it innovation.
- 03
Goals
The purpose the system is driving toward. Change the goal and every action follows.
- 02
Paradigms
The mindset from which the system arises. For one person it can shift in a split second.
- 01
Transcending paradigms
Staying unattached to any one worldview, and reflexive toward all knowledge.
Adapted from Meadows, 2009, as presented in chapter 1.3.
Capabilities built on the systemic sciences
Our research and development directly informs a suite of specialised services designed to future-proof complex organisational ecosystems.
Executive advisory and thought leadership
We provide high-level, evidence-based counsel directly to presidents, ministers, public officials and corporate C-suite executives to de-risk critical policy decisions and large-scale change.
Systemic strategy and organisational fitness
Using advanced systems science and extended-value-chain dynamics, we engineer long-term operational strategies that keep institutions viable, structurally flexible and resilient.
1.4Complexity science from the book
The patterns that pull a system
Phase space is the space of the possible, every state a system can occupy. Attractors are the shapes its behaviour keeps returning to.
After Cohen and Stewart, 1995, and Gharajedaghi, 2006
Point attractor
Drawn toward one thing
The system is drawn to, or repelled from, a single activity. Unidirectional, like the pull of fear, desire or self-interest.
Hover the field to release new trajectories.
Cyclic attractor
Oscillating between states
The system swings between two or more activities, such as stability and change, or security and freedom. Self-maintaining.
Start a trajectory anywhere. It settles onto the same loop.
Torus attractor
Organised complexity that repeats
Equifinal and goal-seeking, reaching the same end by many paths. Typical of open and biological systems.
Move across the field to turn the torus.
Strange attractor
Unpredictable in detail, ordered in the whole
Self-organising and purposeful, like sociocultural systems that choose their own ends and means. Two runs that start a millionth apart end up worlds apart.
Separation between the two runs 0.000001
Click the field to restart both runs.
No two contexts are alike
Sensitivity to initial conditions is why best practice misleads in complex settings. Every problem carries its own fingerprint.
Udemans, 2008, 2013
Propelled by applied R&D
Proprietary algorithms supporting enterprise solutions
Our ongoing research is operationalised through validated methodologies, advanced tools and secure technology platforms engineered for enterprise-grade deployment. Three pillars define where it applies across every partnership.
Pillar 1Map and diagnose
Strategic frameworks and diagnostic methodologies
Advanced organisational engineering tools designed to map complex networks, remove structural silos and future-proof institutional design.
Pillar 2Model and comply
Behavioural dynamics, compliance and AI engines
Intelligent software infrastructure that models human dynamics, automates regulatory compliance and accelerates workforce capability.
Pillar 3Secure and deploy
Secure platforms and bespoke implementations
Data-sovereign communications networks and rapid-deployment software environments built to protect institutional assets.
3.7Business architecture toolset from the book
BAT®: one golden thread from thinking to action
BAT models any organisation as three nested architectures. Its algorithms trace how the quality of thinking flows into enablers, and how enablers flow into daily action.
Strategic architecture
The type and quality of thinking and planning that precedes any action, whether linear, strategic or futures thinking.
Tactical architecture
The enablers relied on to execute a plan: process, people and technology.
Operational architecture
The daily, authentic actions people take in pursuit of the plan.
Shown at level of resolution 1 of 7. No two organisations are configured alike, so every deployment breaks with silver-bullet thinking.
SeS = { f() · f() }
A socio-economic system is a function of the field of power and the architecture its agents use to enable themselves. The field of power combines three forms of capital.
- Cultural capital
- Financial capital
- Social capital
Where advanced systems science meets macro-level institutional execution
Managing fragmented infrastructure, regulatory shifts and global supply-chain volatility takes more than traditional management consulting. We replace guesswork with mathematically sound, validated organisational engineering.
Proven sovereign and global track record
Trusted by the World Bank, the United Nations and sovereign ministries to deliver high-stakes interventions in national business continuity, disaster containment, blueprint design, public-sector reform, and strategic sourcing and procurement.
Proprietary, research-backed IP
Our solutions run on our own patented intellectual property, held in algorithmic engines such as BAT® and CyVerse. Clients get exclusive technology that standard ICT vendors cannot replicate.
Dual-sector compliance and agile delivery
We bridge complex public-sector compliance frameworks and high-velocity private-sector timelines, so deployment is fast and regulatory standards hold.
Immediate structural de-risking
Our focus is your long-term organisational viability. We engineer systems that remove internal friction, uncover hidden supply-chain vulnerabilities and protect your data sovereignty.
2022Published by C-Institute
On the nature of socio-economic systems
The science, the practice, the reflexivity
An introduction to complexity science and systems science, their core paradigms, and the methods and tools used to tame wicked, messy and fluid problems. It asks every practitioner, from student to intervener, to reflect on the consequences of their actions in the real world.
- 220 pages
- 49 application constructs
- ISBN 978-0-620-98729-5
1The science4 chapters
- Introduction to systemics
- Philosophy of science and systems traditions
- Systems science
- Complexity science
2The practice3 chapters
- System classes
- Problem types
- Application constructs, from system dynamics and the viable system model to critical futures
3The reflexivity8 chapters
- Reflexive action
- Power, field, habitus and social systems
- Boundaries
- Feedback dynamics
- Value chain dynamics
- Map and territory dynamics
- Algorithms underlying socio-economic systems
- Conclusion
3.6Map and territory from the book
The map is not the territory
Maps are static and territories are alive. A map of a landscape can never hold the smell in the air or the wind on your face.
When one solution is carried from context to context and called best practice, the map has been mistaken for the terrain. We start with the territory.
Move the lens to see what the map leaves out.
Secure strategic alignment
Select your engagement track. Each intake is routed to a secure, isolated access point and reviewed by the corresponding division.