Publications

Organizational Diagnosis As Phase Space: Attractor Classes, Observer Bias, And Intervention Logic In Autopoietic Systems

Authors: Albin Kühn & Arne H. Theissen

Submitted to: Systems Research and Behavioral Science

The paper introduces a diagnostic instrument that precisely locates the dynamic state of an organization — and derives from this which type of intervention can actually work within it.

The background is a recurring observation from practice: change initiatives rarely fail because of the method. They fail when the diagnosis misreads the system state — not the symptom. An intervention that transforms in one state dissipates in another without effect.

The model distinguishes six qualitatively different system states, each with its own intervention logic — built on Luhmann's systems theory, Haken's synergetics, and the paradox literature.