The purpose of a system is what it does (POSIWID)

This is a popular^* dictum by systems theorist Stafford Beer, pointing out that the self-described purpose of a system (or an organisation) is not the same as its actual purpose. I am often reminded of POSIWID when companies or universities state their “values” but then we contrast them with what they actually value, via their applications of carrots and sticks.

Famously, Google used “Don’t be evil” in their corporate code of conduct, but fired employees complaining about the ethics of their AI projects. Or your organisation states that employee wellbeing is a priority, but it uses an “ambulance at the bottom of a cliff” approach; there is no prevention, but instead you are told to use mindfulness and meditation to reduce stress.

I tend to be sceptical about people and organisations insisting too much on their values; I rather see their results, which tend to reflect their true purpose in what they do.

^*Popular in the sense of nerd popular, not pop-star popular.

Note: In the early 1970s Stafford Beer was involved in the development of Cybersyn, an attempt to plan the whole Chilean economy from a room connected to industry via 500 telex machines. Replica of Cybersyn in Centro Cultural La Moneda, Santiago.