Patterns & Metaphors
Three-way relationship entrainment
Template:
Discontinuity is reduced when two relationships merge by entrainment at three-way nodes rather than under the conflictual conditions of four-way intersections in which an effort is made to maintain the orientation of each.
Physical:
At intersections where two roads meet, accidents are less frequent when the roads meet in three-way T junctions rather than in four-way junctions involving crossing movements.
Social:
The potential for conflict in any inter-organizational environment is reduced when two programmes interact in a mutually entraining manner with a common resultant rather than when an effort is made to maintain the orientation of each toward unrelated outcomes, overriding the frustration and interruption engendered by the interference of the other.
Conceptual:
The potential for disagreement in any conceptual domain is reduced when two lines of research interact in a mutally entraining manner with a common resultant, rather than when each line of thought is pursued, irrespective of the influence exerted by the other and the necessity of overriding the interference and discontinuity it causes.
Psychic:
The potential for cognitive dissonance within any mode of awareness is reduced when two distinct perceptual processes merge into a common third process, rather than when each is pursued, irrespective of the influence of the other and the necessity of overriding the interference and discontinuity to which its insights give rise.
