{
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "canonical_url": "https://transduction.systems/entries/concept_requisite_inefficiency/",
  "release": "0.35",
  "citation": "Taylor, B. P. (2026). Requisite inefficiency. The Necessary Tangle, release 0.35. https://transduction.systems/entries/concept_requisite_inefficiency/",
  "licence": "CC BY-SA 4.0 for original atlas text and data; linked works retain their own terms",
  "entry": {
    "id": "concept_requisite_inefficiency",
    "label": "Requisite inefficiency",
    "entity_type": "concept",
    "description": "The proposal that some slack, redundancy or apparently unused variety is necessary if a system is to retain the capacity to respond and remain viable under conditions not already anticipated.",
    "aliases": [],
    "boundary_ring": "0",
    "inclusion_reason": "practitioner_expertise_coverage_release_0_12",
    "status": "accepted",
    "source_ids": [
      "src_scio_requisite_inefficiency_2014"
    ],
    "set_tags": [
      "systems",
      "practice",
      "human_lineage",
      "release_0_12"
    ],
    "espoused_labels": [],
    "observed_clusters": [],
    "canonical_definition": "The proposal that some slack, redundancy or apparently unused variety is necessary if a system is to retain the capacity to respond and remain viable under conditions not already anticipated.",
    "valid_from": "",
    "valid_to": "",
    "external_ids": "{}",
    "geographies": [],
    "licence": "",
    "review_status": "curator_checked_public_sources",
    "reviewed_by": "Benjamin P Taylor",
    "reviewed_at": "2026-08-10",
    "x": -0.24,
    "y": 0.18,
    "canonical_id": "concept_requisite_inefficiency",
    "public_visibility": "public",
    "publication_level": "profile",
    "public_stub_text": "",
    "public_source_count": 1,
    "no_public_link_count": 0
  },
  "profile": {
    "node_id": "concept_requisite_inefficiency",
    "title": "Requisite inefficiency",
    "profile_status": "curator_checked_public_sources",
    "canonical_definition": "The proposal that some slack, redundancy or apparently unused variety is necessary if a system is to retain the capacity to respond and remain viable under conditions not already anticipated.",
    "summary": "Requisite inefficiency names the possibility that unused capacity, redundancy, variation or slack may be regulatory resource rather than waste.",
    "why_it_matters": "Efficiency programmes can remove the very variety needed to absorb disturbance, learn, experiment and respond. The concept forces an explicit question: inefficient relative to which purpose, boundary and timescale?",
    "key_distinctions": [
      "slack vs waste",
      "short-term utilisation vs long-term viability",
      "redundancy vs duplication without purpose",
      "efficiency for one part vs capacity of the whole"
    ],
    "historical_lineage": [
      "Ashby's requisite variety",
      "management cybernetics",
      "organisational resilience and slack"
    ],
    "logical_antecedents": [
      "requisite variety",
      "viability",
      "adaptation",
      "timescale"
    ],
    "dependent_subsequents": [
      "capacity buffers",
      "experimentation",
      "resilient organisation"
    ],
    "practice_connections": [
      "resource decisions",
      "operational excellence",
      "resilience",
      "portfolio and workforce design"
    ],
    "espoused_lineages": [],
    "observed_clusters": [],
    "common_misreadings": [
      "all inefficiency is good",
      "buffers need no purpose",
      "efficiency and viability are opposites"
    ],
    "open_checks": [
      "seek independent applications and criticism",
      "distinguish related concepts such as slack, redundancy and reserve variety"
    ],
    "source_ids": [
      "src_scio_requisite_inefficiency_2014"
    ],
    "evidence_ids": [],
    "last_researched": "2026-08-10",
    "review_status": "curator_checked_public_sources",
    "reviewed_by": "Benjamin P Taylor",
    "reviewed_at": "2026-08-10",
    "editorial_note": "Developed from cited public sources. The entry remains open to correction, rival accounts and stronger evidence."
  },
  "connections": [
    {
      "id": "e_12_req_ineff_coined",
      "source": "concept_requisite_inefficiency",
      "target": "person_ivo_velitchkov",
      "relation_type": "coined_by",
      "relation_family": "historical",
      "directed": "true",
      "dependency_kind": "",
      "confidence": "0.88",
      "claim_status": "accepted",
      "source_ids": [
        "src_scio_requisite_inefficiency_2014"
      ],
      "evidence_ids": [],
      "source_locator": "Release 0.12 public practitioner and publication sources",
      "valid_from": "",
      "valid_to": "",
      "scope_conditions": "The wording is limited to the named public sources. Bibliographic inclusion and organisational association do not establish wider intellectual influence.",
      "assertion_mode": "asserted",
      "inference_method": "curatorial synthesis of public primary, scholarly and professional-body sources",
      "claim_id": "",
      "reviewed_by": "Benjamin P Taylor",
      "reviewed_at": "2026-08-10",
      "notes": "The SCiO record presents the phrase as Ivo Velitchkov's proposal.",
      "plain_phrase": "was coined by",
      "public_review_label": "supported working statement"
    },
    {
      "id": "e_12_req_ineff_variety",
      "source": "concept_requisite_inefficiency",
      "target": "concept_requisite_variety",
      "relation_type": "explanatory_prerequisite",
      "relation_family": "conceptual",
      "directed": "true",
      "dependency_kind": "",
      "confidence": "0.88",
      "claim_status": "accepted",
      "source_ids": [
        "src_scio_requisite_inefficiency_2014"
      ],
      "evidence_ids": [],
      "source_locator": "Release 0.12 public practitioner and publication sources",
      "valid_from": "",
      "valid_to": "",
      "scope_conditions": "The wording is limited to the named public sources. Bibliographic inclusion and organisational association do not establish wider intellectual influence.",
      "assertion_mode": "asserted",
      "inference_method": "curatorial synthesis of public primary, scholarly and professional-body sources",
      "claim_id": "",
      "reviewed_by": "Benjamin P Taylor",
      "reviewed_at": "2026-08-10",
      "notes": "The proposal depends on retaining sufficient variety to respond over time.",
      "plain_phrase": "has explanatory prerequisite",
      "public_review_label": "supported working statement"
    },
    {
      "id": "e_12_req_ineff_viability",
      "source": "concept_requisite_inefficiency",
      "target": "concept_viability",
      "relation_type": "constrains",
      "relation_family": "conceptual",
      "directed": "true",
      "dependency_kind": "",
      "confidence": "0.94",
      "claim_status": "accepted",
      "source_ids": [
        "src_scio_requisite_inefficiency_2014"
      ],
      "evidence_ids": [],
      "source_locator": "Resource description, paragraphs beginning “Driven by market forces…” and “Both organisms and the social systems…”",
      "valid_from": "",
      "valid_to": "",
      "scope_conditions": "This records Velitchkov's proposal that excess variety may be required for long-run viability; it is not presented as a generally established theorem.",
      "assertion_mode": "asserted",
      "inference_method": "close reading of the official talk description",
      "claim_id": "",
      "reviewed_by": "Benjamin P Taylor",
      "reviewed_at": "2026-08-10",
      "notes": "The SCiO description says removing all apparent inefficiency can undermine survival and that excess variety is needed for requisite variety and long-run viability.",
      "plain_phrase": "states an excess-variety condition on",
      "public_review_label": "source-established practitioner proposal"
    }
  ],
  "claims": [],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "src_scio_requisite_inefficiency_2014",
      "title": "Requisite inefficiency",
      "source_type": "official_professional_body_talk_page",
      "quality_tier": "B",
      "access": "public",
      "url": "https://www.systemspractice.org/resources/requisite-inefficiency",
      "date": "2014-09",
      "notes": "SCiO record of Ivo Velitchkov's proposal that some apparent inefficiency preserves excess variety needed for longer-term viability.",
      "creators": [
        "Ivo Velitchkov"
      ],
      "doi": "",
      "isbn": "",
      "publisher": "SCiO",
      "licence": "site_terms",
      "archived_url": "",
      "content_hash": "",
      "review_status": "checked",
      "last_checked": "2026-08-10",
      "public_link_status": "public_link"
    }
  ],
  "evidence_locators": [],
  "reuse_note": "Preserve source attribution, scope, and review status. Source documents and evidence excerpts are excluded."
}