Some practical Tools for “Thinking Out Of The Box”

(c) gsc - dyads, triads 1

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‘Silver Dyads, Golden Triads’

Dyads and Triads (and ‘structural graphics’ as a generic form) were concepts of which I initially saw some

examples way back in 1979, in a few pages of Warfield’s book, “Societal Systems: Planning, Policy and

Complexity” (Wiley, 1976). It was in fact just those few pages showing me

examples of structural graphics that IMPELLED me to study the whole difficult book intensively (along with

several other ‘subsidiary’ things besides) and extensively – which then “led to” the OPMS.

Note: Work in progress. This presentation will be modified considerably in due course

Some practical Tools for “Thinking Out Of The Box”

Next: Develop into several different presentations - March 09

“A picture is worth a thousand words”

Let’s look at some apparently very simple pictures that COULD be literally worth many more than thousands of words!


A ‘monad’:

A single idea standing on its own

IDEA

We represent it like this: OR

IDEA

One really cannot do much with just a single idea (unless one already knows how to handle many ideas!)

The concept is here just to help kick-start the process!


Now: consider the effect of the prose definition alone on your mind - versus the effect (next) when the structure

representing the prose is available to explain it.

Definition: A “SILVER DYAD” is a set of two ideas

applied collectively and integratively

Idea 2Idea 1

And that is precisely why we recommend the ‘prose + structural graphics’ mode !

If the above definition is clear to you,

would some of you like to

make it clear to everyone

else?

Relationship(s) should be specified when ideas are specified

Structural Graphics

Representation

Now, here’s a suggestion that I believe does help to clarify the definition of “Silver Dyad”:

Silver Dyad

Would you agree that the structural graphics representation enables us to understand the prose with significantly enhanced clarity?

Prose:

Is this definition clear to

you”The relationships

MUST be specified clearly!


‘Prose + structural graphics’ (p+sg) could help us clearly understand complex systems as it helps explain the relationships between

factors in those systems!

Golden Triad

A set of THREE ideas that are applied collectively and integratively


Graphical Representation of Golden Triad

I1 I2

I3

I have found dyads and triads to add significant clarity to my thinking when used in conjunction with the processes embedded in the OPMS

I understand it has been mathematically proven that any ‘clustering’ of idea-elements more

than three in number can be reduced to a logical combination

of monads, dyads &/or triads!

In any case, dyads and triads do seem to be powerful tools to enable and enhance

clarity of thought

The next slide presents anecdotal evidence that the mathematical theorem referred earlier may well be true - but we believe

that this claim does not really require to be proved in detail for our day-to-day work.

Using the concepts of ‘Dyad’, ‘Triad’ and OPMS ‘collectively and integratively’, you can

simultaneously get an ‘overview’ of any situation AND the details as required!

At least, this has been my experience. The process could add great power to your thinking

– it has certainly added enormously to mine!Here are some examples of

Silver Dyads and Golden Triads At the end of this presentation, we illustrate with a picture of a dyad and a triad that may

help convince! (Slides 50-52)


Some real-life examples of ‘Silver Dyads’


MindBrain

Examples of ‘Silver Dyads’:

The ‘stuff’ of Cognitive Research


SynthesisAnalysis

This dyad is, I believe, at the heart of logic development...

Standard logic tools largely enable only ‘analysis’ – synthesis is rarely if ever formally a part of the process. OPMS enables and ensures the iterative

process of the dyad ‘a+s’

Prose shorthand title of above dyad: “a+s” – ‘Analysis’ + ‘Synthesis’ + Relationships between these elements

The process of analysis by itself is generally not iterative

The ‘a+s’ process ensures that the needed iteration and re-iteration will happen because of the following:

A little analysis leads to a need for synthesis (as well as an ability to synthesize various elements of the

analysis), which in turn could lead to further analysis,… and so on. The OPMS process actually

enforces iteration and reiteration quite strongly!

“leads to” (both directions)


WrongRight

This dyad studied since 1979 led to the concept of OPMS

in 1983, and all the development subsequently

HardwareSoftware MindBody AdultChild ReasonIntuition StructuralGraphics

Prose TeacherStudent WomanMan

More Examples of Silver Dyads…

CLAIM: The whole IT industry has grown through the exploration and real-life development of just this silver

dyad! (And, there are plenty more dyads to explore in this connection!)

Explained a bit more, later…

The “intuition” is BUILT INTO each of the elements as they occur to the enquiring mind – the “reason” is BUILT INTO the way appropriate relationships help us ‘organize’ the elements!


StructuralGraphics

Prose

The ‘p+sg’ dyad: we separate the arrows, in order to show the model’s different meanings

in the different directions of the arrow:

“Prose implicitly contains

Structural Graphics”

“Structural Graphics help to explain Prose (through relationships implicitly

contained in that Prose)”

“implicitly contains”

“helps explain”


UserS/WDeveloper

QUESTION: HOW to apply them collectively and

integratively?


Here’s a quick overview of the process of Software Development as a whole:

• User articulates ‘user needs’ (with help as needed from the s/w development team)

• S/W Developers respond with SRS

• User okays the SRS as adequately representing his/her needs as user

• S/W Developers respond with S/W that should satisfy (perhaps over iterations) the user needs…

Next slide, we take a look at the process in terms of some simple ‘structural graphics’

The process as a graph, next slide:


S/w User: Articulate Needs

S/w Developer: Produce SRS

S/w User: Okay SRS

S/w Developer: Produce S/w to satisfy specifications in

approved SRS

“leads to”

Iterations

The process as a graph (ISM):


UserS/w

Developer

Define & Explore Relationships…

What Is the Crucial Step?

User NeedsSRS

Precisely what OPMS enables and ensures!

It’s the detailed elaboration of this dyad in real life that leads

to ALL your software!


ApplicationsTheory

Here’s another very useful Silver Dyad


Here are some real-life examples of

‘Golden Triads’


Body Mind

Spirit

One:


IntuitionReason

Before we look at the next Golden Triad, let’s recall the ‘Silver Dyad’ we had initially seen:

…which leads to…


Reason Intuition

Reality

…this Golden Triad Define & Explore Relationships!

It has to be an

ongoing process!

Here’s a partial (very small part) translation of the Triad: “continuingly explore intuition through reason

– checking both regularly against reality…”

Intuition being the ideas one gets…

…and reason being the exploration of appropriate

relationships between ideas!


View System – Examine Relationships – Study Structure.

Understand System

System Relationships

Structure

Click for another

Golden Triad:


For instance, a good bit of what I do in my workshops is simply to try and explain some

aspects of this particular Golden Triad!

Intent Structure

Lowest Level El.

Trigger Questions Define & Explore Relationships!

Some of these are Triads that I’ve been exploring in depth over the years– and I

can certify that the process works!

Another very useful Golden Triad:


…it happens via the structure below:

Continuing re-articulation of ‘lowest level element’ in an Intent Structure based

on “contributes to”

“leads to”

Effective Action Plan to accomplish Mission!

(Check out the ‘actioning process’ in OPMS)


DeveloperUser

A software development organization’s primary focus might arise from this Dyad and

then related Triads and other structures. We need to arrive at the proper understanding of what the Dyad

means (and everything that develops from it):


Possible example for S/w Co.

Define & Explore Relationships!

Marketing group of S/w Co.

Developer User

Software

These are very general – they will need to be made very specific!

Marketing Need

S/w Product/Service


BDMs* User Needs

Marketing the software

Is this a useful triad for Software Marketing?

*BDM stands for: ‘Business Development Manager’


PMs* ???

S/w development

team

Could such a triad be defined for this group – and then more specifically for each PM?

*‘PM’: Project Manager


ObjectClass

Is this a ‘Silver Dyad for programmers?


Class Object

Component

And is this a ‘Golden Triad’ for them?


DeveloperUser

This Dyad (if it is ‘Silver’) …

…may lead to …


Requirement Design

Construction

…this Triad:

Is it ‘Golden’??


Procedures & Processes

Templates

Quality Policy

Could this Triad be ‘Golden’?If it is ‘Golden’, let’s call it “A”


Functional Requirements

Technical Specs

System

Could this Triad then be ‘B’?


Coding

Could this perhaps be ‘C’?

System Testing

Design

Coding


Functional Testing

Customer Satisfaction

Requirements Analysis

And could this be ‘D’?

Question:Now, can we put all of that

together in some useful and usable way for the software development organisation?

My claim is: using the OPMS approach, we certainly could!

(but the people in the organisation should generate realistic elements –

and then explore in detail the relationships between them)…

A D C B(This is a dummy

structure, of course!)


“leading to”

User Requirements

Customer Satisfaction


Trigger Question(s) Ideas

Structures

And here’s an example that could possibly help people overcome ‘start-up difficulties’

(in using OPMS):

This requires more elaboration – shall do in due course…


Difficulties and how to overcome them


…and your mind will of itself – almost automatically - suggest one or more ways to

overcome that difficulty!

Means to overcome difficulty!

Difficulty

Check out the silver dyad below describing this feature of the human mind:

For instance, just WRITE down any difficulty on any issue in which your have real interest…

The OPMS process ensure systematic capture, crystallization and proper direction all the

significant ideas your mind naturally generates!

In fact, ISMs constructed in the ‘THINGS TO DO’ Dimension of the OPMS contains a very specific set of procedures to ensure that ‘ways to

overcome DIFFICULTIES/ BARRIERS/ WEAKNESSES, etc’ are automatically integrated into the Action Planning developed to accomplish

the Mission!

Here’s some evidence illustrating the fact that your mind is a powerful tool that could be used

to help overcome difficulties…


Of course, we do also have the ‘reverse’ happening, so to speak: If one mind provides

what appears to it to be a “good idea”…

…other minds will – almost automatically - suggest one or more difficulties to show why that idea does not work!

Difficulties hindering/ preventing that idea!

Good Idea

Check out this dyad describing this feature of ‘how minds interact’:

Again, the OPMS process is most useful to help us handle this characteristic of human minds


Using these concepts (integrated with OPMS proper) , the difficulties listed below can be overcome:• Difficulties in getting ideas in response to

trigger questions (continuingly)

• Difficulties in changing the mode of work one is accustomed to…

• Difficulties in interpreting models – and

finding out what to do next… Just write down your difficulty encountered…and everything

else will surely follow – i.e. your mind will find ways to get over that difficulty! (If you actually write down elements, do

needed modeling, and so on)


Here’s a ‘teaser’ about some other closely related concepts – also

very useful to enable and enhance ‘thinking out of the box’…


Element A Element B

Satisfaction & Frustration Cycles

Arrows mean “contributes to”

or “hinders”

Ramesh Pai Holool

Arrows mean “contributes

significantly to Mission of”

The Primary Satisfaction Cycle that has to be built at workplace

Example:

One needs to be quite familiar with the tools comprising the OPMS to use these cycles in a practical way. (I had first seen pictures like these in Warfield’s book on “Societal Systems” in 1979 – though it took me

many, many years to learn how to use them in practice)

Ramesh Pai Holool


By the way, any of the dyads and triads illustrated could well become a suitable

subject for a life-time of study and practical work. For instance, it could be claimed that

the dyad below in one way more or less ‘encapsulates’ all of ‘Ethics’

WrongRight


For another example, the following Silver Dyad could become the focus of studies of the human being in many different ways:

AdultChild


Adult

Growth of ‘mind + body’

Child

Consider, for instance, the following ‘Golden Triad’:“Mens sana in corpore sano”

Difficulties are likely to arise if we break up the complex and then try to treat the part as the entire

whole (next two slides):


Adult

Growth of ‘body’

Child

An unbalanced adult:


Adult

Growth of ‘mind’

Child

Also unbalanced:


To conclude: here is a very useful Golden Triad

(sketched earlier in prose [at slide No. 8])

Dyad ‘S’ Triad ‘G’

OPMS

The ‘complex’ Golden Triad below has in fact motivated the whole OPMS project ever

since 1983, when the OPMS concept was invented


IntuitionReason

Reason Intuition

Reality

Triad ‘G’ Dyad ‘S’

OPMS

Leading to:Dyad ‘S’ is:

(which we’ve encountered earlier)

Triad ‘G’ is:


It’s our claim that, properly interpreted and used, the triad

illustrated in the previous slide could be worth as many words as you want

to make it!

It could become, in fact, the initiator of an Action Plan to help you

accomplish ANY feasible Mission that you’re interested in…

Just name your Mission, and I can demonstrate to you, conclusively,

how OPMS can help to make it happen on the ground!


Sl.No.

Name and action of Triad

Triad

1 Action Situation Content, context, process

2 Bases of Generic Design Science

Anthropological, Formal Logical, Technological

3 Bases of Human Action

Facts, Presuppositions, Suppositions

4 Basic Language Types Graphics, Mathematics, Prose

5 Classical Definition Types

Extension, Intension, by Relationship

6 Cosmos Components Library, Phaneron, Residue

7 Design Perspective Types

Gradation, Limits, Outcome (Success & Failure)

8 Design Process Needs Parsimony, Saliency, Variety

9. Design Science Types General, Generic, Specific

10 Education Goals (Perry)

Contribution, Inheritance, Participation

Twenty Golden Triads (Warfield)


11 Generic Science Components

Foundations, Methodology, Theory

12. Generic Science Gradation

Idea (Unit), Set (Module), Structure (Pattern)

13 Human Action Types Analysis, Design, Synthesis

14 Inference Types (Peirce)

Abduction, Deducation, Induction

15 Key Idea Action Clarify, Generate, Structure

16 Key Management Functions

Intelligence, Design, Choice

17 Planning Foci Change, Idea, Situation

18 Question Types Generic, Triggering, Undesigned

19 Structural (Pattern) Types

Cycle, Hierarchy, Hybrid

20 Time Blocks Future, Past, Present

Sl.No.

Name and action of Triad

Triad

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Some practical Tools for “Thinking Out Of The Box”