This phrase, attributed to Stafford Beer, describes a heuristic in systems thinking where there is “no point in claiming that the purpose of a system is to do what it constantly fails to do”. It highlights that complex systems reflect their underlying incentives, constraints, and structural incentives over human wishes and intention.
Some examples of this phrase in action:
- The claim that supply-side tax cuts for high-income earners and corporations can spur job creation, boost business investment, and trickle down to raise wages for everyone is countered by decades of economic data showing that the cuts contribute to wealth concentration, budget deficit increases, and fund stock buybacks over wage growth. Therefore, the POSIWID conclusion here is that the tax policy’s purpose is wealth concentration and capital protection instead of overall prosperity.
- An institution framing signs about safety being an utmost priority and requiring workers to attend annual compliance training, but ties supervisor bonuses to production speed and penalising workers for taking downtime to report hazards and incidents. Therefore, the POSIWID conclusion here is that the system’s purpose is maximising throughput at the expense of safety.