Some practical Tools for “Thinking Out Of The Box”

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Contains ‘overlay’ animations:Please download and save to your hard disk, thenuse your F5 key to run the presentation!(Scrolling through this presentation without actually running it will SURELY be very confusing for you!)

‘Silver Dyads, Golden Triads’ Some practical Tools for “Thinking Out Of The Box” 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 Next: Develop into several different presentations - March 09 (c) gsc - dyads, triads

Let’s look at some apparently very simple pictures that COULD be literally worth many more than thousands of words! “A picture is worth a thousand words” (c) gsc - dyads, triads

(c) gsc - dyads, triads OR IDEA 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! A ‘monad’: A single idea standing on its own We represent it like this:

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Structural GraphicsRepresentation Idea 1 Idea 2 Now: consider the effect of the prose definition alone on your mind - versus the effect (next) when the structure representing the prose is available toexplainit. Would you agree that the structural graphics representation enables us to understand the prose with significantly enhanced clarity? And that is precisely why we recommend the ‘prose + structural graphics’ mode ! Silver Dyad Definition: A “SILVER DYAD” is a set of two ideas applied collectively and integratively Prose: Now, here’s a suggestion that I believe does help to clarify the definition of “Silver Dyad”: If the above definition is clear to you, would some of you like to make it clear to everyone else? Is this definition clear to you” The relationships MUST be specified clearly! Relationship(s) should be specified when ideas are specified

(c) gsc - dyads, triads ‘Prose + structural graphics’ (p+sg) could help us clearly understand complex systems as it helps explain the relationships between factors in those systems!

A set of THREE ideas that are applied collectively and integratively Golden Triad (c) gsc - dyads, triads

(c) gsc - dyads, triads I1 I2 I3 Graphical Representation of Golden Triad

I understand it has been mathematicallyproven that any ‘clustering’ of idea-elements more than three in number can be reduced to a logical combination of monads, dyads &/or triads! I have found dyads and triads to add significant clarity to my thinking when used in conjunction with the processes embedded in the OPMS 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. (c) gsc - dyads, triads

Here are some examples of Silver Dyads and Golden Triads 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! At the end of this presentation, we illustrate with a picture of a dyad and a triad that may help convince! (Slides 50-52) (c) gsc - dyads, triads

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Some real-life examples of ‘Silver Dyads’

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Mind Brain Examples of ‘Silver Dyads’: The ‘stuff’ of Cognitive Research

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Synthesis Analysis This dyad is, I believe, at the heart of logic development... “leads to” (both directions) 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! Prose shorthand title of above dyad: “a+s” – ‘Analysis’ + ‘Synthesis’ + Relationships between these elements The process of analysisby itselfis generally not iterative 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’

(c) gsc - dyads, triads StructuralGraphics Software Body Man Child Intuition Student Right Woman Hardware Reason Adult Teacher Wrong Mind Prose This dyad studied since 1979 led to the concept of OPMS in 1983, and all the development subsequently More Examples of Silver Dyads… Explained a bit more, later… 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!) The “intuition” is BUILT INTOeach of the elements as they occur to the enquiring mind – the “reason” is BUILT INTOthe way appropriate relationships help us ‘organize’ the elements! The OPMS approach – practically applying reasonto intuition

(c) gsc - dyads, triads The ‘p+sg’ dyad: we separate the arrows, in order to show the model’s different meanings in the different directions of the arrow: “implicitly contains” StructuralGraphics Prose “helps explain” “Prose implicitly containsStructural Graphics” “Structural Graphics help to explain Prose (through relationships implicitly contained in that Prose)”

(c) gsc - dyads, triads S/WDeveloper User QUESTION: HOW to apply them collectively and integratively?

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Here’s a quick overview of the process of Software Development as a whole: Next slide, we take a look at the process in terms of some simple ‘structural graphics’ • 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… The process as a graph, next slide:

(c) gsc - dyads, triads “leads to” The process as a graph (ISM): Iterations 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

(c) gsc - dyads, triads S/w Developer User What Is the Crucial Step? It’s the detailed elaboration of this dyad in real life that leads to ALL your software! Define & Explore Relationships… Precisely what OPMS enables and ensures! User Needs SRS

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Theory Applications Here’s another very useful Silver Dyad

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Here are some real-life examples of ‘Golden Triads’

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Body Mind Spirit One:

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Intuition Reason Before we look at the next Golden Triad, let’s recall the ‘Silver Dyad’ we had initially seen: …which leads to…

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Reason Intuition Reality Here’s a partial (very small part) translation of the Triad: “continuingly explore intuition through reason – checking both regularly against reality…” Define & Explore Relationships! …this Golden Triad …and reason being the exploration of appropriate relationships between ideas! Intuition being the ideas one gets… It has to be an ongoing process!

(c) gsc - dyads, triads System Relationships Structure Click for another Golden Triad: View System – Examine Relationships – Study Structure. Understand System

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Intent Structure Lowest Level El. Trigger Questions Another very useful 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! Some of these are Triads that I’ve been exploring in depth over the years– and I can certify that the process works! Define & Explore Relationships!

(c) gsc - dyads, triads “leads to” …it happens via the structure below: Effective Action Plan to accomplish Mission! Continuing re-articulation of ‘lowest level element’ in an Intent Structure based on “contributes to” (Check out the ‘actioning process’ in OPMS)

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Developer User 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):

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Marketing Need Developer User S/w Product/Service Software Define & Explore Relationships! Possible example for S/w Co. Marketing group of S/w Co. These are very general – they will need to be made very specific!

(c) gsc - dyads, triads BDMs* User Needs Marketing the software Is this a useful triad for Software Marketing? *BDM stands for: ‘Business Development Manager’

(c) gsc - dyads, triads PMs* ??? S/w development team Could such a triad be defined for this group – and then more specifically for each PM? *‘PM’: Project Manager

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Object Class Is this a ‘Silver Dyad for programmers?

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Class Object Component And is this a ‘Golden Triad’ for them?

(c) gsc - dyads, triads User Developer This Dyad (if it is ‘Silver’) … …may lead to …

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Requirement Design Construction …this Triad: Is it ‘Golden’??

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Quality Policy Procedures & Processes Templates Could this Triad be ‘Golden’? If it is ‘Golden’, let’s call it “A”

(c) gsc - dyads, triads System Technical Specs Functional Requirements Could this Triad then be ‘B’?

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Design System Testing Coding Could this perhaps be ‘C’? Coding

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Requirements Analysis Customer Satisfaction Functional Testing And could this be ‘D’?

Now, can we put all of that together in some useful and usable way for the software development organisation? Question: (This is a dummy structure, of course!) B A D C 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)… (c) gsc - dyads, triads

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Customer Satisfaction “leading to” User Requirements

(c) gsc - dyads, triads 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…

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Difficulties and how to overcome them

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Difficulty Means to overcome difficulty! For instance, just WRITE down any difficulty on any issue in which your have real interest… …and your mind will of itself – almost automatically - suggest one or more ways to overcome that difficulty! Here’s some evidence illustrating the fact that your mind is a powerful tool that could be used to help overcome difficulties… Check out the silver dyad below describing this feature of the human mind: 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! The OPMS process ensure systematic capture, crystallization and proper direction all the significant ideas your mind naturally generates!

(c) gsc - dyads, triads 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”… Good Idea Difficulties hindering/ preventing that idea! …other minds will – almost automatically - suggest one or more difficulties to show why that idea does not work! 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

(c) gsc - dyads, triads 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 downyour 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)

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Here’s a ‘teaser’ about some other closely related concepts – also very useful to enable and enhance ‘thinking out of the box’…

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Element A Element B Ramesh Pai Holool Example: The Primary Satisfaction Cycle that has to be built at workplace Satisfaction & Frustration Cycles Arrows mean “contributes significantly to Mission of” Arrows mean “contributes to” or “hinders”

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 (c) gsc - dyads, triads

(c) gsc - dyads, triads Wrong Right 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’

Some practical Tools for “Thinking Out Of The Box”