<p>This article addresses a conceptual omission in organisational cybernetics: the absence of a temporal criterion for viability. While Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model (VSM) defines viability as a system’s ability to survive and adapt autonomously, it does not clarify how viability unfolds or is measured through time. This lacuna becomes evident when comparing short-lived but successful projects with enduring yet deteriorating organisations. How long must a system endure to be viable? What kind of time is this? To respond, the paper introduces the concept of the time of viability, defined as the total span during which a system maintains its identity, autonomy, and operational coherence. Drawing from Henri Bergson’s concept of durée and Humberto Maturana’s theory of autopoiesis, the article proposes a dual temporal model: experiential time, internal and subjective to the system, and operational time, used for coordination and external reference. This bidimensional view enriches Beer’s work by grounding viability in qualitative, creative temporality rather than abstract metrics. Through a synthesis of cybernetics, process philosophy, and systems biology, the paper offers six propositions about viability time, including its role in adaptation, anticipation, synchronisation, memory, and systemic freedom. In doing so, it reconceptualizes organisational viability not merely as survival, but as a temporally embedded, self-defining process of identity maintenance across change. This theoretical proposal expands the VSM’s explanatory power and opens practical avenues for managers to rethink how they diagnose, coordinate, and sustain viable systems over time.</p>