The framework / 03
The machinery of action
The machinery of action distinguishes the kinds of work involved in pursuing a course of action, such as receiving information, planning, or carrying out a decision. These kinds of work are called stages.
Stages
- Information
- Receiving or gathering information about the situation.
- Appreciation
- Understanding what matters in the situation and how it bears on what to do.
- Principles
- Bringing general considerations to bear on judgement or action.
- Planning
- Working out how to proceed.
- Decision
- Settling a question about what to do.
- Resolve
- Being determined to carry through what one means to do.
- Execution
- Carrying out an action, with the attention and judgement it requires.
Phases and stretches
A phase is one of the successive parts of an undertaking. Several stages can occur within a phase: we may gather information, work out a plan, and make a decision. Stages can overlap and recur in later phases. Their order and interaction depend on the course of action.
A stretch concerns how much of what happens we include when describing an action.
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