Algedonics

Description

(see also: Stigmergy)

Dónal Ó Coisdealbha:

"A key implication of the self-organization of these three activities – production, process improvement and scheduling – is the profound new importance of what the father of management cybernetics, Stafford Beer, called ‘algedonic signals.’ In a modern context, these signals consist of visual alert icons, again on the corporate computer system, which also generate instant messages by phone and email when activated, and which then require the immediate attention of pre-defined recipients. Such signals are ‘activated’ either manually in light of an immediate problem or automatically, as a result of relevant flows of production statistics crossing over a predefined threshold. These algedonic signals now take on great importance because industrial engineers (as well as other specialists in the fields of quality, safety, and so forth) engage with the pull production system through such exceptional events, when things are going notably well, badly, or when specific classes of issue arise.

In modern factories, when the relevant parties receive such instant ‘algedonic signals,’ they then need to confirm that they will react to them through the corporate computer program, and having done so, they must report on their findings while closing (‘normalizing’) the signal. Both the event and the reaction to it then act as the basis for further discussions and process improvements. Failure by the specialist to react in a timely manner to the problem, or failure to confirm that a problem has been resolved within a given time period, automatically causes the signal to ‘escalate’ to higher levels within the organizational hierarchy, triggering more instant messages. Someone is thus always responsible for any emergent situation, up to and including the top levels of the organization, and inaction as well as any actions constitute information signals which are transparently visible to everyone within the system. The emergent facts of the production process in this way impose accountability on all specialists and managers, subordinating them to the process rather than the other way around."

(https://cosmonautmag.com/2024/08/modern-industry-and-prospects-for-socialism/)