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Examples of socio-technical systems include firms, government
departments, military and charitable institutions, structured activist
groups; indeed, any bounded grouping that performs work in the

pursuit of a goal.

In this Guide, we are concerned primarily with the social side
surrounding and operating the technical system. The reason for this
focus is that technical systems are typically complicated (in that they

can be understood in their parts and interactions) and not complex.
That said, we recognize that the nature and characteristics of an
underlying technical system influence the social system and to a
degree vice versa (e.g., the types and numbers and costs of people

required and available to run the system: on the other side, the
minimum wage argument and the automation of lower skill jobs).

Our focus on this Guide is then exclusively on the 'socio' side of socio-
technical.

The Key Characteristics of a (Human) System

Goal-focused: In the abstract, systems are goal-focused entities
performing work on inputs and putting out outputs (and waste) in
pursuit of that system goal. Though the system as a whole is goal-

focused, sub-groups inside the system may have their own goals and
interests that may or may not align with the higher total system goal.
To the extent that sub-groups (coalitions) pursue their own goals in

competition with the system goal the system loses coherence and will
likely die. To a large degree, the goals and internal structure of a
system are path-dependent in that they are influenced by the insights,
values, and choices of prior agents. This path-dependence is akin to

momentum driving the organization onward with the resultant inertia
when facing change; this can lead to contextual blindness and the
eventual failure of the system.

Agents/Actors: All human systems are composed of agents/actors

interacting with individuals or sub-groups to run a technical system

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