The functional method does not describe reality. It reveals the functional order of reality.

The sciences have divided reality into fields, each with its own language and method. The Functional Theory of Systems does not ask what something is, but what function it has in carrying out a Task. This change of starting point does not change reality. It changes the way we look at it.

Six terms from this Book

Task

A perceived Need of the Subject, accepted as a functionally defined goal. There is no System without a Task.

Shell

The chosen aspect of reality that is the object of perception. The Shell is always determined by the Task.

Mould

The universal functional method. Only the Shells it is applied to change.

Algorithm

Five Golden Questions: Why? What? How? When? Who?

Functional Extraction

Draws out of the complexity of reality what matters for solving the Task.

Pattern

An objective functional template that is not constructed but recognized.

The Task determines the Shell, the Mould perceives the Shell, the Algorithm applies the Mould, the Algorithm reveals the Pattern, and the Pattern expands functional knowledge.

What is the function of man? I have the function of solving Tasks.

The Book shows where Tasks come from, why different people naturally approach the same Task in different ways, and what it takes for difference to become synergy instead of conflict.

The seven claims of the Manifesto

1. Life is a sequence of Tasks, not a sequence of random events.
2. Man is a bearer of Responsibility toward the Good, not merely a bearer of Needs.
3. Difference is not a problem, it is the condition for solving Tasks more completely.
4. Cooperation is not a choice, it is a consequence of Limitation.
5. Community begins with the recognition of a common Good, not with geography or origin.
6. The Good is concrete, recognizable and verifiable through the consequences of action.
7. Essence exists, and only the Subject who recognizes it solves not only the Task but also himself.

The four sides of the Task

P

Ensures that the Task produces a real result.

A

Ensures that the result becomes predictable and repeatable.

E

Recognizes the condition for change and directs the Task toward a possible Good.

I

Ensures that distributed Resources become a shared strength.

The limited Subject recognizes the Good through Values; from the Good, for the sake of Essence, defines the Task; through the Task gathers Resources; through Resources builds a System; through the System acts; and through action takes on Responsibility.

A Book explains a term, the Glossary defines it.

As long as there is only one book, it is enough to define terms along the way. As soon as there are more, a question arises: does Task in the third book mean the same as in the first? The Unified Glossary exists so that the answer does not depend on memory. Every entry has a definition, a status, a source and links.

Seven principles of the register

1. The definition belongs to the series, the explanation belongs to the book.
2. A code is permanent.
3. The register is extended, not rewritten.
4. A term may be a basic category in one theory and a derived one in another.
5. Only one term may be primitive.
6. A term is recognized by its Function, not by its name.
7. No term stands alone.

See the six blocks and the Genesis on the Glossary page →

Your own answer first, and only then the rest of the page.

The Gym does not explain the theory. It develops the ability to see, in a real situation, what is functionally important: what we know, what the Subject needs, what the Task is, what the System has, what limits it and where its Boundary lies.

Ten trainings, ten muscles

1. Fact. A Fact is not the same as an Interpretation.
2. Need. A phenomenon is not the same as a Need.
3. Task. A Need is not the same as a Task.
4. Res. What the System actually has for carrying out the Task.
5. Function and Result. A Function is not its bearer, and a Result is not an activity.
6. Relations. The parts work, but the Relation between them may not.
7. Limitation. Where the real Limitation of implementation lies.
8. Measuring Point and Dynamics. The consequence comes late, and the Result depends on where it is measured from.
9. Shifting the Limitation. The Limitation shifts after every intervention.
10. The System Boundary. The same Result changes its meaning when the Boundary changes.

Don’t rush to solve it. First hear what the System is telling you.

Here the order is reversed: first you get a Task, a Puzzle or a real situation, you try on your own, and only then do you get a name for what you have experienced. Before the question “What should I do?” the Gym introduces one more step: “What is actually happening here?”

Seven Cycles

I · See

From Imbalance to System

II · Follow

The System in action

III · Expand

Expanded systems literacy

IV · Map

A map of reality and diagnostics

V · Trace the Path

Dynamics, the Path and how a System learns

VI · Question

Reflective and evolutionary thinking

VII · Integrate

Integration and verification: thinking in FTS

The Advisor does not manage the Subject’s Decision. He helps the Subject understand what he is deciding about.

Functional Advising starts from the Subject, his Limitation and his Need, not from a solution chosen in advance. When the Subject cannot or does not want to solve the Task on his own, he borrows another’s I: the Advisor. The Task and the Decision remain the Subject’s.

Eight views of the same Relationship

Functional process

When Advising is functionally justified, and when it is not.

NAL

How aware the Subject is of a concrete Need.

Driving Forces

Fifteen Forces in seven Families.

PAEI

The four sides of the Task and the personality Type.

Ego Type

Parent, Adult or Child.

Paradigm

The frame through which the Subject interprets reality.

Trust

Accepting the Advisor as another’s Resource.

Golden Questions

Why, What, How, When, Who.