Metaphorum is a members’ association dedicated to organisational cybernetics in the tradition of Stafford Beer. It was formed after Beer’s death in 2002, following a tribute event, “Staffordian Syntegration”, held at the University of Hull’s Scarborough Management Centre in June 2003, where his closest collaborators decided to keep developing his ideas together.
Activities
Metaphorum runs annual conferences, webinars for practitioners and researchers, and research projects applying the Viable System Model and Team Syntegrity to firms, public services, cooperatives and governance. The 2026 conference, held at Alliance Manchester Business School, marked the centenary of Beer’s birth.
Why it matters
Beer’s methods are demanding to learn from books alone. Metaphorum is where practitioners compare cases, refine diagnostic methods, and train newcomers, keeping management cybernetics a living practice.
Further reading
- metaphorum.org
- Stafford Beer, Beyond Dispute: The Invention of Team Syntegrity (1994)