Autopoiesis is the process of **self-production** which maintains the identity of an organism or an organization as itself. The process was first described by biologists Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela who observed that most activity engaged in by living organisms was not directed toward reproduction but to self production. In complex organisms, autopoiesis is not a single process but a concatenation of processes linked together by homeostats or joined in a Symbiotic Relationship.. In biological organisms, there are external limits to autopoiesis at the individual level (an animal will eat until satisfied, and then rest) and at the evolutionary level (skeletal structure, food supply, lung capacity and other factors limit the growth of members of a species). In organizations, such controls are not so well established at either the individual or the evolutionary level. It is noticeable, however, when an organization's autopoietic activities have gone out of control and become pathological at the extreme, such as when an agency's budget exceeds entire assets of the industry or activity it administers. Detection of **excesses of autopoietic activity** at the organization level are sometimes difficult to discern because the particular activities may be performed with great skill and efficiency. The key is to look for the right balance between an organization's producing itself, and producing something else such as its supposed or intended product The production of something external to the organization or organism is called allopoiesis. Preoccupation with organizational roles, rituals and procedures, internal emphasis on questions of turf and a decline in the adaptability of the organization to changing circumstances are signals that autopoiesis is out of control. This has been called pathological autopoiesis (by Stafford Beer), and its symptomatology has been defined. # SOURCE Maturana, H., & Varela, F. (1980). Autopoiesis and Cognition. Boston: D. Reidel. Maturana, H., & Varela, F. (1992). The Tree of Knowledge (Revised edition ed.): Shambhala. # EXAMPLES: **Of Normal Autopoiesis** • eating to maintain life • maintaining a reserve to ride through anticipated market oscillations • attention to house style, code of ethics and other factors that reinforce organizational identity **Of Pathological Autopoiesis** • overeating to the point of obesity (except where climatic conditions give a substantial survival advantage to organisms who have stored a great deal of fat to last through the winter) • preoccupation w ith internal coordination to the detriment of providing products and services to customers • maintaining such a high level of reserves that the organization bypasses . new opportunities and does not undertake needed adaptation • a charity that spends most of its energy on fundraising '• hanging on to a constraining or rigid identity which blinds the organization to opportunity • a cancer # Non-examples • reproduction and raising the young in animal societies • manufacturing goods • adaptive behavior such as exploring a new market • providing services to clients; curing the sick, training technicians, transporting goods • long term planning, when not misconceived (as sometimes happens) as an activity in its own right PROBABLE ERROR • Drawing the line between necessary and excessive autopoiesis in the wrong place. • Underestimating the resistance of a system to having its excess autopoiesis pruned (its basis is the instinct for survival, and perceptions of survival criteria may expand ad infinitum) # REFERENCE Preface to Autopoiesis and Cognition, Heart of Enterprise Chapter 15, Brain of the Firm Chapter 19 # SEE Adaptation; Homeostasis; Self Reference