THE CANON OF MEANING SYSTEM SCIENCE
General Theory of Interpretation (GTOI)
What Meaning System Science Is
Meaning System Science is the General Theory of Interpretation (GTOI).
It explains how people, teams, and organizations form meaning, align signals, and lose stability as they undergo change. It unifies five scientific domains to show why capable groups still encounter confusion, crossed signals, and uneven execution.
Why the Field Exists
In the era of AI, systems face more information than they can reliably interpret. Small gaps in meaning quickly widen into rework, friction, and instability.
MSS provides a scientific way to see these breakdowns early and resolve them at their structural source.
What This Page Provides
A brief orientation to how the MSS canon is structured. Foundations, practice, governance, professional standards, and the full map of the field.
Ready to see what Transformation Management actually is?
THE CANON OF MEANING SYSTEM SCIENCE
A-Series · Foundational Works
A1 · The Charter
Why today’s institutions needed a new science and the responsibility the Institute was created to carry.
A2 · Meaning System Science
The model that reveals the structural variables behind how people make sense of their work.
A3 · The Scientific Lineage of Meaning
The story of the thinkers whose discoveries made the science possible.
A4 · The Physics of Becoming
The law that explains why some systems stay coordinated as they become, and why others do not.
A5 · Proportionism
The vantage point that lets us read systems through relationships instead of guesses or assumptions.
A6 · The General Theory of Interpretation
The classification that shows interpretation behaves like a system across human and machine environments.
B-Series · Applied Science (Transformation Science)
B1 · Emergence
Why transformations so often fall apart, and the structural reason behind the seventy percent failure rate.
B2 · Practice
How practitioners actually read systems, diagnose misalignment, and restore direction in the real world.
B3 · Restoration
What becomes possible once clarity can be rebuilt intentionally rather than reactively.
C-Series · Meaning-System Governance
C1 · AI as a Meaning System
The governance model for stabilizing interpretation when machines generate meaning alongside people.
D-Series · Technical Standards
D1 · LDP 1.0
A structural diagnostic that shows how clearly an organization thinks, communicates, and coordinates action.
D2 · 3E Standard™
The professional standard that defines the work of Transformation Management.
D3 · 3E Method™
The method that turns the science into clear, coordinated steps teams can actually use.
Institute Resources
R1 · Official Terminology
The shared vocabulary that keeps the discipline precise and interpretable.
R2 · Citation Guidelines
The rules for citing the science with accuracy and consistency.
R3 · Essential Reading
The works that shaped the intellectual ancestry of Meaning System Science.
R4 · About the Institute
The mission, stewardship model, and public commitment of the Transformation Management Institute.
Not sure where to begin?
If you’re new to the field, the Research Library offers a simple way to explore everything in one place.
Institute Stewardship
The Transformation Management Institute™ stewards the scientific canon of Meaning System Science and the General Theory of Interpretation (GTOI). The Institute’s role is to publish and maintain these works with scientific neutrality. The Institute does not provide consulting services and remains independent of commercial activity to preserve the integrity of the field.
The canon is made available as an open-access scientific resource. Its underlying ideas and theoretical structures may (and are encouraged to) be cited, studied, and applied for educational purposes. Certain names—Transformation Management Institute™, Meaning System Science™, The Physics of Becoming™, and related terms—are protected as trademarks to ensure that official terminology, publications, and standards are not misrepresented or used in commercial contexts without authorization. These protections apply to the Institute’s branded materials, not to the scientific content itself.
Each publication is versioned and updated as the field advances. Collectively, these works form the foundation for future standards, certifications, and applied practices in Transformation Management.
For permitted usage, attribution requirements, and publication rights, see Terms of Use & Licensing.