Frequently Asked Questions
The TMI site supports multiple entry points. The FAQ offers a plain-language orientation. Research Programs outline the Institute’s major lines of inquiry. The Domain page positions the General Theory relative to other disciplines. The Research Library contains the full monograph series, with curated reading paths. Transformation Management is the applied practice section: standards, diagnostics, and breakdown signatures for governing live transformation work.
SECTION 1
INSTITUTIONAL ORIENTATION
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The Transformation Management Institute™ (TMI) is an independent research and standards organization formed in response to a growing AI-era governance problem: in many institutions, shared interpretation no longer stabilizes fast enough for coordinated, accountable action. As automated systems generate and mediate more of the signals people rely on, confidence, provenance, and correction capacity become operational requirements rather than background assumptions.
TMI does not operate as a consultancy. It exists to publish and steward open-access scientific work and standards that make interpretive reliability and transformation governance clearer, more consistent, and usable over time.
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TMI’s work is organized into three research programs. The General Theory of Interpretation (GTOI) is the Institute’s primary program and produces Meaning System Science. In parallel, the Institute maintains System Existence Theory (SET) and Transformation Science as independent programs with their own scope and publication pathways.
Program outputs include foundational monographs, applied research, governance studies, and technical standards such as the Physics of Becoming, the 3E Standard™, and the Legitimacy Diagnostic Protocol (LDP-1.0).
SECTION 2
THE FIELD AND THE PROBLEM IT ADDRESSES
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The General Theory of Interpretation addresses problems where people or systems cannot reliably stay aligned on what is happening, what has changed, and what counts as settled. These problems often appear in capable organizations, institutions, and platforms, even when the people involved are skilled and motivated.
Rather than focusing on intent, culture, or communication style, the theory focuses on whether shared understanding remains dependable across roles, systems, and time.
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Because clarity does not come from volume alone. When reference points are unclear, signals conflict, or decision pathways are unstable, additional communication can multiply interpretations instead of bringing them together.
In these situations, people are forced to rely on local judgment to keep work moving. The issue is not effort or engagement, it is whether the system supports shared understanding in the first place.
SECTION 3
UNDERSTANDING THE GENERAL THEORY
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It means that shared understanding depends on consistent conditions, not just on individual perspective or opinion. Across many environments, the same patterns appear when those conditions are present, and the same kinds of confusion appear when they are not.
This makes interpretation something that can be studied, evaluated, and governed, rather than treated as purely subjective or personal.
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A general theory explains how something behaves wherever it appears. In this case, it means the same principles apply to individuals, teams, organizations, institutions, and artificial systems.
The theory does not depend on a specific industry, tool, or culture. It describes a shared structure that remains relevant across scale and context.
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Psychology focuses on individuals. Philosophy examines concepts and arguments. Systems thinking studies interactions and feedback.
Meaning System Science focuses on whether shared understanding remains consistent as information, decisions, and signals move through real systems. It complements these fields by addressing a layer they often assume rather than analyze directly.
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MODERN SYSTEMS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
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In this work, AI governance means ensuring that machine-generated outputs remain understandable, comparable, and usable by people over time. It focuses on how AI participates in shared understanding inside organizations and institutions.
The emphasis is not on intelligence or autonomy, but on whether AI-supported environments remain interpretable as outputs circulate and influence decisions.
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Because accuracy alone does not guarantee shared understanding. AI systems can produce correct outputs while making it harder to explain decisions, compare results across contexts, or integrate updates consistently.
When variation increases faster than evaluation and correction can keep up, people experience uncertainty even in technically strong systems.
SECTION 5
APPLIED FRAMEWORKS
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The 3E Standard™ defines minimum conditions required for shared understanding during transformation. It is used as a design and evaluation reference when organizations are introducing new tools, structures, or processes and want to preserve clarity during becoming.
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LDP-1.0 is a diagnostic protocol used to assess how well a system supports reliable interpretation. It provides evidence-based insight into where misalignment is coming from by examining reference integrity, signal consistency, decision pathways, and correction capacity.
SECTION 6
STEWARDSHIP AND ACCESS
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Meaning System Science was developed by Jordan Vallejo as part of the General Theory of Interpretation, the Institute’s primary theoretical program.
The Transformation Management Institute™ stewards this work alongside its other independent research programs, including System Existence Theory and Transformation Science. Each program is governed within its own corpus, with defined scope, official terminology, and version control to ensure clarity, continuity, and citability over time.
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That depends on what you are trying to understand.
Most readers begin with Meaning System Science, which introduces the Institute’s core theory of interpretation. Those focused on active transformation work often start with Transformation Management, then use Transformation Science to understand breakdown forms and attempt behavior. Readers interested in AI and digital trust typically begin with AI as a Meaning System.
The Research Library provides structured entry points and curated reading paths across the Institute’s work, organized by interest and use case.
Not sure where to begin?
The TMI Research Library organizes the Institute’s work into curated reading lists to support different entry points.