Dimensionality

Abstract

New definitions of ‘dimensionality’ and ‘dimension’ are set forth that dominate older definitions. Dominance means not that older interpretations are violated, but that the sense of the new interpretation extends substantially the sense of older interpretations, thereby opening up the use of the term in a much broader class of situations. Among the benefits of the new interpretation of dimensionality are: Greater understanding of situations, greater effectiveness in describing situations, more lucid descriptions, better system designs, substantive cross‐discipline problem‐solving activities that cannot now be carried out in a common framework, and the potential for a more coherent community of scholars.

Toward a grounded theory of sustainability in social service organizations: a systems point of view

“…Needless to say, a deep understanding of these challenging contexts is necessary to fully appreciate the grounded 'point of view' that successful design leaders must bring to the design situation. Several references have been identified that are closely aligned with a foundational understanding of the challenging contexts of design situations (Banathy, 1992(Banathy, , 1996Bass, 1990;Bausch, 2004;Block, 1993;Burns, 1978Burns, , 2003Charajedaghi, 1999;Chrislip and Larson, 1994;Gray, 1989;Jenlick, 2001;Magliocca and Christakis, 2001;Minati and Collen, 1997;Rost, 1991;Stevenson, 2002;Warfield, 1976Warfield, , 1988Warfield, , 1994Warfield, , 2002Warfield and Cardenas, 1994;Warfield and Christakis, 1987).…”

“…The CogniScope TM system incorporates the principles of interactive management (Warfield, 1976(Warfield, , 1987(Warfield, , 1988(Warfield, , 1994(Warfield, , 2002 and has been designed to support stakeholders in arriving at a consensus on specified research ('triggering') questions. The system has five components that have been designed for use with complex design situations.…”

Problem complexity and the formulation process in planning and design

“…He states that the variety of a design aimed at effective system performance must be as great as the variety of the Hehaworal Science, Volume 33, 1988 problem or issue that the designed system is intended to resolve. That is, the dimensionality of a problem must be matched by a solution which addresses, implicitly or explicitly, each dimension (Warfield & Christakis, 1987). There are many examples of underdesign and failure which support this, a recent and tragic example being the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster (Fiore & Keever, 1987).…”

“…The risk of simplification is disenfranchising people who will be important in later stages of the planning and design process and not having the benefit of their insight during formulation (i.e., missing one or more dimensions of the problem) (Warfield & Christakis, 1987).…”

Personal resource systems management: realizing the potential of our common interests

“…Attention is biologically limited, and chaos disturbing, so we begin by chunking the environment into dimensions. Dimensions [16] differ from categories in that they are open and continuous (like the color spectrum) rather than closed and boundaried (like boxes). PRSM recognizes six environmental 'dimensions' (intellectual, organizational, social, material, natural, financial)…”