A language for intention and goal-seeking
For something so fundamental to human existence, we don't have a lot of terms that help us precisely describe how we act with intent.
In his sharply observant way, the legendary author Terry Pratchett once wrote that “a fish has no word for water” in reference to the idea that something can be so fundamental to your existence that you don’t recognise it is present at all.
In the same vein, the well-known knowledge management theorist Joe Firestone titled his blog “All Life Is Problem Solving”, pointing at the truth that problem solving is fundamental to being sentient. Firestone’s decision execution cycle model (DEC), in combination with John Boyd’s OODA loop, are the basis of my problem solving pattern, which acts as a extension to the AKI model previously discussed:
The problem solving pattern is a useful analytical tool for examining organisational processes and individual thought practices, but it operates very much in the space of deliberative, intentional action.
While useful for “ordinary” business processes, it only represents a small fraction of the decision-making modes that can be adopted, deliberately or inadvertently in systems. But to do this we need to be able to discuss these modes and name them, and there is a lack of standardised language to do this well.
There are four aspects to intentionality — teleosis, anathesis, kinothesis, and synthesis. These broadly align to the elements of the problem solving pattern.
Each aspect can be described in terms of the current and potential modes available to a system (hybrid modes are also possible).
Teleosis (“place to be”)
Teleosis is the process by which the goal of a system is set. This has three high-level system modes:
Organisations are almost always teleological, markets are generally teleonomic, and physics-based systems are teleomatic. Conflating teleological and teleonomic structures, or attempting to impose teleological constraints in a system that cannot be meaningfully controlled in this way, is one of the most common category errors made by system planners.
Teleomatic systems require no further discussion because by definition, there is no conscious decision-making involved in these systems. Teleonomic systems have some limited ability to examine at how unrelated decisions create a seemingly purposeful outcome, but the bulk of the complexity in intentionality lies in teleological systems, and the majority of modes discussed below are those from teleological environments.
Anathesis (“placing up”)
Anathesis is the process by which knowledge is evaluated and solutions are chosen. This covers a wide range of evaluative modes, such as:
Kinothesis (“placing in motion”)
Kinothesis is the means by which an action is effected. Modes of kinothesis include:
Synthesis (“placing together”)
Synthesis is how disparate sources of information are sensed, evaluated and combined into new forms. Modes of synthesis include:
Combined, these aspects provide a nuanced and precise way to describe systems and how they determine goals and exhibit intentionality. An example evaluation of an organisation to demonstrate the terminology in practice is provided below.
Example
A small Brisbane cafe team of eight handle daily operations like serving coffee and meals, managing orders, and keeping the place clean for breakfast and lunch crowds.
Situation summary: A fast-paced, customer-facing environment with routine tasks.
Aspects:
Teleosis — Teleological. The business operates with deliberate planning to meet customer demands and sustain business viability.
Anathesis — Heuristic, Intuitive. Staffing levels for each shift are determined by basic knowledge of typical attendance patterns, blended with gut-feel from experienced staff when responding to difficult customers and other novel situations. Recipes are added and changed based on chef’s subjective evaluation of waste from having it in standard meal rotation and feedback from customers.
Kinothesis — Cell structure, Ritualistic. Each team operates largely autonomously but with clear parameters for communication and handover. Rituals such as opening and closing tasks are learnt and executed in consistent ways by staff without specific documentation.
Synthesis — Aggregation, Association. Orders are simply handled sequentially and tallied at end of day through the cash register. Repeat customers are identified visually and positive / negative attributes tracked informally among staff over time.