Metaphorum 2026 · Barefoot Cybernetics

Midlife Chrysalis: from ‘good Chinese boy’ and economics to Stafford Beer-aholics

From expert economic witness testifying and citing The Nature of the Firm (Coase) to courts and antitrust regulators in high-stakes litigation; to discombobulated PhD student interpreting The Brain of the Firm (Beer) to diagnose ‘System 3*s’ in green building rating organisations. I reflect on my transition from ‘a good Chinese boy’ gainfully employed as a policy/ regulatory economist advising on ‘optimal pathways’, to liquefying my DNA inside an untested transdisciplinary chrysalis, to the throes of turning cybernetic and learning to accept: ‘no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.’ [there is no road; you make your own path as you walk.] Somewhere along the way—between piloting the Master of Applied Cybernetics at the Australian National University (ANU), watching my country in flames, starting a cohortbased PhD programme, locking down amidst a global pandemic and drafting a research agenda for a new School of Cybernetics (SOCY)—I stumbled into Stafford Beer. The Viable System Model (VSM) is now core to my research to develop new theory and praxis on viable sociotechnical/sustainability transition intermediary organisations for transforming our buildings and cities. As the School’s de facto Chief Beer Officer (CBO), I will also celebrate some new research from fellow travellers also inspired by Stafford Beer. SOCY PhD students who have adopted and adapted the Viable System Model (VSM) to generate novel insights for how to viably manage sociotechnical systems, such as ‘smart’ street lighting infrastructure, and decisionmaking structures of early-stage venture capital firms in the age of AI. Speaker: Tom Chan

Schedule to be confirmed