Glossary

The following table provides brief descriptions of key concepts and terms, together with a number of translations. Expanded explanations of main terms can be found in pages linked in the "TERM" column.

Glossary of key terms and concepts

TERM	Short description	German	Portuguese (Brasil)	Spanish	French	Chinese, simpl. / 中文, 简体 (Pinyin)	Chinese, trad. / 中文, 繁體 (Wade-Giles)	Japanese	Arabic/ العربية	Italian	Greek	Turkish
Cynefin® - Place of multiple belongings	Sense-making framework at the core of Naturalising sense-making and Anthro-complexity	Ort multipler Zugehörigkeiten	Lugar de múltiplos pertencimentos	Lugar de múltiples pertenencias	Lieu d'appartenances multiples				المُنتمَى	Luogo delle molteplici appartenenze	Τα πολλαπλά μέρη όπου ανήκουμε
Abduction	Forming a conclusion from pieces of partial information	erkenntnistheoretische Entführung	Abdução	Abducción	Abduction	溯因推理	溯因推理		الاستنباط	Abduzione	Απαγωγή
Abstraction	Cognitive process of isolating certain aspects of a given phenomenon or object so as to relate it to other such phenomena or objects showing the same common aspects	Abstraktion	Abstração	Abstracción	Abstraction	抽象	抽象		التجريد	Astrazione	Αφαίρεση
Act	Perform an action that changes (part of) a given system	agieren / handeln (Verb)	Agir	Actuar	Agir	行为	行为		اِفْعَل	Agire	Δρώ, δράση
Adjacent possible	"Everything that’s achievable given the system’s current state" (Kauffmann, quoted by Doyle)		Possível adjacente	Posible adyacente	Possibilité adjacente	邻接举措	邻接举措			Adiacente possibile
Affordance	What the environment offers the individual . Also refer to Gibson	Erschwinglichkeit	Preço	Asequibilidad	Affordance	可供性	承擔特質		القُدْرة	Possibilità	Προσφερόμενες δυνατότητες
Agency	Capacity, condition, or state of intervening, acting, or exerting power		Poder de atuação	Agencia / Capacidad para actuar	Agentivité / Capacité d'agir	能动性	能動性			Potere d'intervento
Analyze	Describe a system in terms of a set of parts and the causal relationships between them	analysieren	Analisar	Analizar	Analyser	分析 (fēnxī)	分析 (fen hsi)		حلِّل	Analizzare	Αναλύω, ανάλυση
Anecdote	Short account of a memorable event	Anekdote	Anedota	Anécdota	Anecdote	趣事 (qùshì)	趣事 （ch'ü shih）		طُرفة	Aneddoto	Aνέκδοτο (σύντομη αφήγηση, όχι με την έννοια του αστείου)
Anthro-complexity	The type of complexity that is characteristic of human systems, arising from their having identities, and being intelligent and intentional	Anthro- / humane Komplexität	Antro-complexidade	Antro-complejidad	Anthro-complexité	人类学复杂性	人類學復雜性		التعقيد الإنساني	Antro-complessità	Η ανθρώπινη πολυπλοκότητα
Aporetic	Being in the epistemological state of not having made sense of a given context, while being aware of such ignorance and having an intentional attitude towards overcoming it (also see). Also, the liminal portion of the "confused" domain in the Cynefin® framework	"zum Zweifel neigend", zu Zweifeln geneigt	Aporético	Aporético	Aporétique	无为 (wú weí)	無為		معضلة	Aporetico	Απορία
Archetype	A typical example of a certain kind of person, usually representing a role, or thing, in a narrative		Arquétipo	Arquetipo	Archétype	原型 (yuánxíng)	原型 （yüan hsing）		الطراز الأولي	Archetipo	Αρχέτυπο
Artifact	"Anything wo/man-made including things like spreadsheets as well as more conventional tools"		Artefato	Artefacto	Artefact	人工制品	人工製品		ملموس	Artefatto	Τέχνημα, δημιούργημα
Assemblage theory	Refers to a theory (Agencement, Deleuze) asserting that, within a body, the relationships of component parts are not stable and fixed; rather, they can be displaced and replaced within and among other bodies, thus approaching systems through relations of exteriority	Sammlung, Versammlung	Agenciamento	Ensamblaje	Agencement	集群理论	集群理論		نظرية التلاقي	Assemblaggio
Assembly	Coherent, ordered collection of methods and related concepts		Coletanea	Colección	Collection	集群	集群		تلاقيات	Raccolta	Συναρμολόγημα
Attitude	Propensity towards a certain behavior	Einstellung, Haltung	Atitude	Actitud	Attitude	态度 (tàidù)	態度 (tai du)		موقف	Propensione	Τάση
Attractor	A point (or a stable oscillation) towards which a system tends to evolve	Attraktor	Atractor	Atractor	Attracteur	吸引子			الجاذب	Attrattore	Χώρος έλξης
Bureaucracy	The system of formal rules in an organization	Bürokratie	Burocracia	Burocracia	Bureaucratie	官僚 (guānliáo)	官僚 (kuan liao)		البيروقراطية	Burocrazia	Γραφειοκρατία
Catalyst	Anything that lowers the energy of change	Katalysator	Catalisador	Catalizador	Catalyseur	催化剂	催化劑		حفّاز	Catalizzatore	Καταλύτης
Categorize	Assign categories to things, according to a given taxonomy	kategorisieren	Categorizar	Categorizar	Catégoriser	分类	分類		صنِّف	Categorizzare	Κατηγοριοποιώ, κατηγοριοποίηση
Causality	Cause-effect deterministic relationship between two phenomena or events, implying that one necessarily follows the other (not to be confused with Correlation)	Kausalität	Causalidade	Causalidad	Causalité	因果性	因果性		السببية	Causalità	Αιτιότητα
Change	A stable modification of a system	Veränderung	Mudança	Cambio	Changement	改变	改變		تغيُّر	Cambiamento	Αλλαγή
Chaotic	Of a system in which no causal relationships between parts are knowable. Also of one of the Cynefin® framework domains	chaotisch (Adjektiv)	Caótico	Caótico	Chaotique	混沌 (hùndùn)	混沌 （hun tun)		فوضوي	Caotico	Χαοτικό
Clear	Of a system in which causal relationships between parts are easily recognizable. Also of one of the Cynefin® framework domains	klar (Adjektiv)	Claro	Claro	Clair	明显 (míngxian)	明顯 (ming h'sien)		واضح	Chiaro	Ξεκάθαρο
Coherent	In logical or physical accordance with the context. Especially used in sense-making to characterize actions consistent with an identified decision domain and, in complexity, with the dispositional landscape of a system	stimming / kohärent	Coerente	Coherente	Cohérent	相干性	相干性		متسق	Coerente	Συνεκτικό
Complex	Of a system in which causal relationships between parts are not linear and not knowable, except, in some cases, retrospectively. Also of one of the Cynefin® framework domains	komplex (Adjektiv)	Complexo	Complejo	Complexe	复杂 (fù za)	複雜 (fu tsa)		معقد	Complesso	Πολύπλοκο
Complex adaptive system	(see Complex)	komplex adaptive Systeme	Sistema complexo adaptativo	Sistema adaptivo complejo	Système complexe adaptatif	复杂适应理论	復雜適應理論		الأنظمة المتكيفة المعقدة	Sistema complesso adattivo	Θεωρία των Συστημάτων
Complicated	Of a system in which causal relationships between parts are linear and knowable in advance, through analysis or expert advice. Also of one of the Cynefin® framework (sub)domains	kompliziert (Adjektiv)	Complicado	Complicado	Compliqué	繁杂 (fan za)	繁雜 (fan tsa)		مُتشابِك	Complicato	Περίπλοκο
Concept	An idea or principle that is connected with something		Conceito	Concepto	Concept	概念	概念		مفهوم	Concetto	Έννοια
Conflict	A situation in which individuals or groups are involved in serious disagreement, argument, or even violence against each other		Conflito	Conflicto	Conflit	冲突	沖突		صراع	Conflitto	Σύγκρουση
Confused	Of a state of not knowing the type of decision domain being faced, while not necessarily being aware of that. Also of one of the Cynefin® framework domains	konfus / verwirrt (Adjektiv)	Confuso	Confuso	Confus	迷惑	迷惑		مضطرب	Confuso	Σύγχυση
Constraint	Anything limiting the space of future possibilities or favoring its evolution in a certain direction	(Rahmen-)Bedingung / Einschränkung	Restrição	Restricción	Contrainte	约束	約束		قيد	Vincolo
Constructor theory	a proposal for a new mode of explanation in fundamental physics		Teoria do construtor	Teoría del constructor	Théorie des constructeurs	构造器理论	構造器理論		نظرية البنّاء	Teoria del constructor
Constructor	Something that, while remaining largely unchanged, enables transformation by passage or contangion	? )	?	?	?				?	?
Correlation	Joint statistical recurrence of two phenomena or events (not to be confused with Causation)		Correlação	Correlación	Corrélation	相关 (xiāngguān)	相關		ارتباط	Correlazione
Counterfactual	What can not or is not going to happen, within a given timeframe		(Evento) Contrafactual	(Evento) Contrafáctico	(Événement) Contrefactuel	反事实	反事實			(Evento) Controfattuale
Coupled	Of two parts in a system being interrelated in a way that an action on one part causes consequential effects on the other	gekoppelt (Adjektiv)	Acoplado	Acoplado	Couplé	耦合	耦合		مقرون	Accoppiato
Creed	Simple way of defining and remembering things that all know, or merely likely believe, in such a way that they can be understood over a range of intellectual abilities and knowledge	Überzeugung	Credo	Credo	Credo				مُعْتَقَدٌ	Credo
Crew	A coherent set of interacting roles with the purpose of collectively performing one or more codified jobs	Besatzung	Tripulação	Tripulación	Équipage	工作组（机组）			طاقم	Equipaggio
Crisis	A difficult situation posing serious threats		Crise	Crisis	Crise	危机 (wēijī)	危機			Crisi	Κρίση
Culture	The set of beliefs, common values, and expected behaviors associated with identities and roles in the context of groups at a given scale. It is an emergent property of interactions over time	Kultur	Cultura	Cultura	Culture	文化 (wénhuà)	文化		ثقافة	Cultura
Decision	A choice or judgement with consequential effects on the context and on its evolution path	Entscheidung	Decisão	Decisión	Décision	决定 (juédìng)	決定		قرار	Decisione
Decomposition	The division of something into smaller parts, at a certain level of granularity, in a not necessarily reversible manner. In association with recombination (see), it constitutes a way of scaling in complexity	Zerlegung	Decomposição	Descomposición	Décomposition	分解 (fēnjiě)	分解		تَحَلُّل	Scomposizione
Decoupled	The opposite of Coupled (see)	entkoppelt (Adjektiv)	Desacoplado	Desacoplado	Découplé				مفصول	Disaccoppiato
Deduction	Drawing conclusions about particulars from given general premises	Ableitung	Dedução	Deducción	Déduction				الاستنتاج	Deduzione
Descriptive self-awareness	Leadership-related ability of being aware of how other people would describe us in context	beschreibendes Selbstbewustsein	Autoconsciência descritiva	Conciencia descriptiva	Conscience de soi descriptive				الوعي الذاتي التوصيفي	Autoconsapevolezza descrittiva
(False) Dichotomy	Partition of a whole into two mutually exclusive, completely exhaustive parts. Often used to indicate a fallacious categorization ("false dichotomy"), where two possibly co-existing attributes of something are presented as mutually exclusive categories		Dicotomia	Dicotomia	Dichotomie					Dicotomia
Discursive approach	Methodological approach for introducing a topic by starting with a narrative metaphorically linked to one or more key points of the topic itself		Abordagem discursiva	Abordaje discursivo	Approche discursive				النهج الاستطرادي	Approccio discorsivo
Disintermediation	Direct availability of self-interpreted narratives to decision-makers	Abbau einer Mittlerrolle	Desintermediação	Desintermediación	Désintermédiation				اللاوساطة	Disintermediazione
Disordered	Previous term for "Confused" (now deprecated in that sense, see Confused)		Desordenado	Desordenado	Désordonné				مُشَوَّش	Disordinato
Disposition	Propensity of a system to move to an adjacent possible in a certain direction	Disposition	Disposição	Disposición	Disposition				نزعة\النزوع	Disposizione
Dissent	The act of disagreeing with someone or something	Dissens / Meinungsverschiedenheit	Dissensão	Disentimiento	Dissension				اِنْشِقاقُ	Dissenso
Diversity	Heterogeneity in a group of people, typically by culture, experience, gender, etc.	Diversität	Diversidade	Diversidad	Diversité				تنوّع	Varietà
Domain	One of the five ontological parts and epistemological perspectives that form the Cynefin® framework	Domäne	Domínio	Dominio	Domaine				نِطاق	Dominio
Emergence	Appearance of something, typically a property, as a result of the interactions of parts in a system, in a way that is not predictable starting from the analysis of those parts	Entstehung / Auftauchen / Sichtbarwerden	Emergente	Emergente	Émergence				انبثاق	Emersione
Enabling	Favoring the evolution of a system in a certain, usually desired, direction, through the lowering of an energy gradient	ermöglichend (Adjektiv)	Habilitador	Habilitante	Habilitant				تمكين	Abilitante
Energy	A measure of the effort needed to change the state of a system	Energie	Energia	Energía	Énergie				طاقة	Energia
Entanglement	A property of a system in which the parts are deeply interconnected, in a way that is not easily knowable in advance, and consequently actions are likely to have unintended consequences		Emaranhamento	Entrelazamiento	Enchevêtrement				الشائكة	Inestricabilità
Epigenetics	Refers to the heritable changes in gene expression or phenotype that don't involve changes in the DNA sequence		Epigenética	Epigenética	Épigénétique	表观遗传学 (biǎoguān yíchuán xué)	表觀遺傳學 (piao kuan i ch'uan hsüeh)		عِلْمُ التَّخَلُّق	Epigenetica
Epistemology	Branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge	Epistemologie, Erkenntnistheorie	Epistemologia	Epistemología	Épistémologie				ابستيمولوجيا	Epistemologia
Estuarine	Having the qualities of an Estuary	?	?	?	Estuarien	? ()	? （)		?	?
Evolution	A process of change in time and in context, that can be based on both adaptation and exaptation. Originally coming from Biology, it can be referred by analogy to organizations within business and non-business ecosystems	Evolution	Evolução	Evolución	Évolution	进化 (jìnhuà)	進化 （chin hua)		التطور	Evoluzione
Exaptation	The taking of an idea, concept, tool, method, framework, etc., intended to address one thing, and using it to address a different thing, often in another domain.	Exaptation / Zweckentfremdung	Exhaptação	Exaptación	Exaptation				تكيّف مسبق	Preadattamento, Exattamento
Experience	A perspective on knowledge that takes into account the duration of exposure to a certain context or practice. One of the perspectives forming the ASHEN framework	Erfahrung	Experiência	Experiencia	Expérience	经验 (jīngyàn)	經驗 (ching yen)		الخبرة	Esperienza
Expert	Someone who sees a problem as relatively clearer than others in the clear-complicated spectrum, and who can provide a solution to it, within a specialized domain of competence	Experte	Especialista	Experto	Expert	专家 (zhuānjiā)	專家 (chuan chia)		الخبير	Esperto
Fable	Long and complex story whose message is memorable but whose details are not		Fábula	Fábula	Fable	寓言 (yùyán)				Favola
Fixed	Of something (typically a constraint) that cannot be easily modified by acting on it	fest / starr (Adjektiv)	Fixo	Fijo	Fixe				مُثَبَت	Fisso
Flexuous	Winding from side to side; sinuous	Biegsam	Flexuoso	Flexuoso	Flexueux				مُتَمَعِّج	Flessuoso
Fluffy bunnies	Idiom coined by David Snowden. It refers to new age platitudes and idealistic leadership models. The term originated in contrast to techno-fetishists.	Plüschhasen	Coelhos lanugentos	Tonterías	Bisounours				أرانب منفوشة	Fuffa
Fractal	Self-similar at different scales (and levels of granularity)	Fraktal	Fractal	Fractal	Fractal	碎形 (suìxíng)	碎形 (sui hsing)		كسيرة	Frattale
Framework	Provides a way, or better ways, of looking at the world or an aspect of the world	(Ordnungs-)Rahmen / Bezugssystem	Arcabouço	Marco de referencia	Framework / Cadre conceptuel	框架 (kuàngjià)	框架 (k'uang chia)		إطار عمل	Framework
Governing	Preventing the evolution of a system in a certain, usually undesired, direction, through the increase of an energy gradient	regierend / leitend / steuernd (Adjektiv)	Governante	Gobernante	Gouvernant				الحاكم	Di governo
Granularity	The - finer or coarser - level at which an object or a system can be, naturally or artificially, materially or conceptually, divided into parts	Granularität		Granularidad	Granularité				حُبَيْبِيَّة	Granularità
Habit	A usual behavior. Something done often and generally without thinking	Gewohnheit	Hábito	Hábito	Habitude				عادة\عادات	Abitudine
Hermeneutics	The interpretation of written texts, the study of their meaning, and the art and technique of finding it		Hermenêutica	Hermenéutica	Herméneutique	诠释学 (quánshìxué)			علم التأويل	Ermeneutica
Heuristics	Rule of thumb used to speed up decision-making, the (non) application of which can be easily verified	Heuristik	Heurística	Heurística	Heuristique	锦囊	錦囊		إرشاديات\إرشادي	Euristica
Hierarchy	A way of classifying and connecting the elements of a set in an ordered number of levels so that any give element is connected to one other in the upper level, except one, which is in the top level. Commonly used to characterize an organization (set) in which the positions (elements) are hierarchically structured	Hierarchie	Hierarquia	Jerarquía	Hiérarchie				رُتَبْ	Gerarchia
Hope	Belief that something desirable will possibly happen		Esperança	Esperanza	Espoir	希望 (xīwàng)				Speranza
Identity	The sense of self as a non-exclusive emergent property of a role. Usually referred to individuals within a community. By extension, it can be referred to organizations	Identität	Identidade	Identidad	Identité	身份 (shēnfèn)	身份		هُوِية	Identità
Inattentional blindness	Failure to perceive something in plain sight when it is unexpected, non attributable to a vision or otherwise sensorial deficit		Atenção seletiva	Ceguera por falta de atención	Cécité d'inattention				عمى عدم الانتباه	Attenzione selettiva
Induction	Inferring general conclusions from particular facts		Indução	Inducción	Induction				الاستقراء	Induzione
Information	Meaning or insight conveyed through narration or data analysis		Informação	Información	Information	信息 (xìnxī)			الاستقراء	Informazione
Innovation	The creation of novel ways of producing value	Innovation	Inovação	Innovación	Innovation	创新 (chuàngxīn)	創新 (ch'uang hsin)		الإبتكار	Innovazione
Interpretation	The descriptive characterization of a narrative along a set of given dimensions	Interpretation	Interpretação	Interpretación	Interprétation				التأويل	Interpretazione
Interview	A technique for eliciting information based on asking questions and recording the answers	Interview	Entrevista	Entrevista	Entretien				مقابلة	Intervista
Journal	A systematic record of narratives in time	Tagebuch	Diário	Diario	Journal				صحيفة	Diario
Knowledge	The set of cognitive pre-conditions for decision-making	Wissen	Conhecimento	Conocimiento	Connaissance	知识 (zhīshi)	知識		معرفة	Conoscenza
Knowledge disclosure point, KDP	(The account of) an event - decision, judgement, problem resolution, learning event - that sets a meaningful context for knowledge elicitation.		Momento revelador de conhecimento	Momento revelador de conocimiento	Moment de divulgation de la connaissance				موقف كشف معرفي	Momento rivelatore di conoscenza
Learning	Process of acquiring new knowledge	Lernen, Lehre	Aprendizagem	Aprendizaje	Apprentissage				التعلم	Apprendimento
Lesson-learned	Knowledge acquired through past (or fictional) experience		Lição aprendida	Lección aprendida	Leçon tirée / Retour d'expérience				دَرْس مُستَخلَص	Insegnamento
Liminal	Temporary transitional state between two identities (see). Also metaphorically used to indicate the phase transition (see) state between any two of the primary Cynefin® domains	Grenzbereich, Schwellenbereich	Liminal	Liminal	Liminal	阈限	閾限	識閾（リミナル）	حدي	Liminale
Manifesto	Ideological statement of how things should be, or more frequently how they should not be	Manifest	Manifesto	Manifiesto	Manifeste				بيان	Manifesto
Map	A simplified, conceptualized, usually graphical representation of reality that privileges certain aspects of it based on a given more or less generic purpose	Karte	Mapa	Mapa	Carte	地图 (dìtú)	地圖		خارطة	Mappa
Metaphor	A way of describing (a quality of) something by analogy with something else, based on a higher level of abstraction	Metapher	Metáfora	Metáfora	Métaphore	隐喻	隱喻		التشبيه المؤكد	Metafora
Method	Defined process or processes which if followed produce defined results	Methode	Método	Método	Méthode	方法	方法		منهج	Metodo
Model	A representation of reality, or more appropriately of some aspect of the world, allowing for simulation or exploration without encountering the irreversibility of reality	Modell	Modelo	Modelo	Modèle	模型	模型		نموذج	Modello
Narrative	A discursive account of actual or fictional events, and a key aspect of human sense-making			Narrativa / Relato	Récit / Narratif	叙事	敘事			Narrazione
Natural Language Processing (NLP)	A technology based on the algorithmic processing of natural language, including for example information extraction from language data in written and spoken forms, and allowing novel forms of human-machine interactions		Processamento da linguagem natural	Procesamiento del lenguaje natural	Traitement automatique des langues (TAL)	自然语言处理	自然語言處理		معالجة اللغات الطبيعية	Elaborazione del linguaggio naturale
Network	A set of interconnected parts	Netzwerk	Rede	Red	Réseau	网络 (wǎngluò)	網絡		شبكة	Rete
Novel	Different from anything known or existing before, possibly resulting from exaptation	neu / neuartig (Adjektiv)	Inédito	Inédito	Novateur				بِدعَة	Inedito
Numinous	Having a strong religious or spiritual quality making you feel that a superior entity or a god is present		Numinoso	Numinoso	Numineux				الخشوع (نومينوس)	Numinoso
Obvious	(see Clear)	offensichtlich - siehe: klar	Óbvio (veja Claro)	Obvio (ver Claro)	Évident - voir Clair				جلي	Ovvio - vedi Chiaro
Ontology	The branch of philosophy that studies concepts such as existence, being, becoming, and reality	Ontologie, Seinslehre	Ontologia	Ontología	Ontologie				الأنطولوجيا	Ontologia
Ordered	Clear or complicated (see). Of a system in which causal relationships between parts are linear and knowable in advance, whether because obvious, or through analysis, or through expert advice. Also of one of the Cynefin® framework domains	geordnet	Ordenado	Ordenado	Ordonné				المُرَتَّب	Ordinato
Parable	Short story teaching some kind of moral or spiritual lesson	Parabel	Parábola	Parábola	Parabole	讽喻 (fěngyù)	諷喻		مَوْعِظة	Parabola
Path dependence	The state in which the propensity of something to change in a certain direction or another depends in part or in full on the history of its previous states	Wegabhängigkeit	Dependência da trajetória	Dependencia del camino	Dépendance au sentier/Dépendance au chemin emprunté	路径依赖 (lùjìng yīlài)	路經依賴		الإعتماد المسلكي	Dipendenza dal percorso
Phase transition	The physical process of transition between basic states of the matter, involving energy incorporation or freeing. By analogy, the transition between any two of the Cynefin® primary domains	Phasenübergang	Transição de fase	Fase de transición	Transition de phase				تحوّل طوري	Transizione di fase
Phenomenology	The philosophical study of the structures of experience and consciousness	Phänomenologie	Fenomenologia	Fenomenología	Phénoménologie				ظاهراتية	Fenomenologia
Power	Ability to control	Macht	Poder	Poder	Pouvoir	力量 (lìliang)	力量		القوة	Potere
Practice	The way a problem or a need is approached, according to the decision domain to which it belongs. DIfferent practices correspond to different C	Übung, Praxis	Prática	Práctica	Pratique	实践 (shíjiàn)	實踐		طريقة	Pratica
Principle	A methodological guideline usually valid in a given context	Prinzip	Princípio	Principio	Principe				قاعدة	Principio
Probe	To put in place an action to investigate the dispositional state of a system through the subsequent observation of a response. Probing tends to modify the object of observation	prüfen / untersuchen / proben	Sondar	Sondear	Sonder	探索 (tànsuǒ)	探索		إسبر	Sondare
Process	An ordered sequence or network of actions and decisions performed in time and producing an outcome	Prozess	Processo	Proceso	Processus	过程 (guòchéng)	過程			Processo
Propensity	(see Disposition)		Propensão	Propensión	Propension				نزوع	Propensione
Recombination	The joining or mixing into a new system of parts coming from the prior decomposition (see) of one or more other systems. In association with decomposition (see), it constitutes a way of scaling in complexity	Rekombination	Recombinação	Recombinación	Recombinaison	重组 (chóngzǔ)	重組			Ricombinazione
Resilience	Ability to survive with continuity of identity over time	Resilienz	Resiliência	Resiliencia	Résilience	弹性能 (tánxìngnéng)	彈性能		لَدَانَة	Resilienza
Respond	Act in a system coherently with its causal or dispositional state	antworten / reagieren	Responder	Responder	Répondre				اِستَجِب	Rispondere (Reagire)
Ritual	A sequence of actions consciously or unconsciously performed by an individual in the incorporation of a new role, in the separation from a former role, or in the transition between roles, that that lowers the energy and speeds up identity transition	Ritual	Ritual	Ritual	Rituel				طَقْس	Rituale
Role	A recognizable function of an individual in an organization, group, or community, in a generic or specific context	Rolle	Papel	Rol	Rôle				دَوْر	Ruolo
Scaffold	Cognitive abstraction of a structured set of constraints allowing or favoring the system to (tend to) take a certain shape or move towards a certain direction	Gerüst	Andaime	Andamio	Échafaudage				السِّقالةُ	Impalcatura
Scale	Change the size (by an order of magnitude)	skalieren	Escala	Escala	Échelle					Scalare
Semiotics	The study of sign processes (semiosis)	Semiotik	Semiótica	Semiótica	Sémiotique					Semiotica
Sense	Become aware	wahrnehmen (Verb) / Sinn (Nomen)	Sentir	Sentir	Sentir / Capter				أَدْرِك	Sentire (Osservare)
Sense-making	Making sense of the world so as to be able to take act in it	Sinn gebend / Sinn stiftend	Sense-making	Dar un sentido	Sense-Making				استدرك	Dare un senso
Sensor	Something (someone) that helps detecting a signal	Sensor	Sensor	Sensor	Capteur	传感器 (chuángǎnqì)	傳感器		حَسّاس	Sensore
Serendipity	The occurrence of unintended and unexpected consequences of an action		Serendipidade	Serendipia	Heureux hasard / Sérendipité				سرنديبية	Serendipità
Side-casting	Casting around, to see what directions of travel are coherent with the current dispositional landscape									Guardarsi intorno
Simple	(see Clear)	einfach - siehe: klar	Simples (veja Claro)	Simple - ver Claro	Simple - voir Clair				بسيط - راجع واضح	Semplice - vedi Chiaro
Skill	A competence that can be taught and measured in terms of time of execution and quality of output	Fertigkeit	Habilidade	Habilidad	Compétence				مهارة	Abilità
Strange attractor	A behavioral phenomenon where, although individual actions never repeat, they follow a certain recognizable recurrent pattern (term borrowed from mathematical physics, also see Assemblage theory and Trope)		Atractor estranho	Atractor extraño	Attracteur étrange	奇异吸引子 (qíyì xīyǐnzi)	奇異吸引子		جاذب غريب	Attrattore strano
Substrate	[description needed]		Substrato	Sustrato	Substrat					Substrato
Sufficiency	Condition that occurs when one knows that they know enough to decide or act		Suficiência	Suficiencia	Suffisance					Sufficienza
Talent	The natural ability to learn or to perform a task with exceptionally lower effort or higher results	Talent	Talento	Talento	Talent				موهبة	Talento
Taxonomy	A classification based on pre-determined categories	Taxonomie, Klassifizierungsschema	Taxonomia	Taxonomía	Taxonomie	分类 (fēnlèi)	分類			Tassonomia
Time	A measure that allows to determine the order of events	Zeit	Tempo	Tiempo	Temps	时间 (shí jiān)	時間		زمن	Tempo	χρόνος (chrónos)
Trichotomy	An element of description based on three aspects	Trichotomie	Tricotomia	Tricotomía	Trichotomie					Tricotomia
Trio	A group of three people working together. Also see Entangled trios.	Trio	Trio	Trío	Trio				ثلاثي	Trio
Triple point	The combination of temperature and pressure at which the three phases of a substance, solid, liquid, and gas, are equiprobable. Also metaphor for the confused domain in the Cynefin® framework	Tripelpunkt	Ponto triplo	Punto triple	Point triple					Punto triplo
Trope	Unescapable pattern of story	bildlicher Ausdruck	Tropo	Tropo	Trope					Tropo
Trust	Belief in the reliability, truth, ability, intention or willingness to act in a given manner, or strength of someone (or something)		Confiança	Confianza	Confiance					Fiducia
Turning point	A moment in history at which the evolutionary path of a system takes (is prevented from taking) a specific direction, typically as a result of a decision or of an external event	Wendepunkt	Ponto decisivo	Punto decisivo	Tournant / Point décisif				نُقطة تَحَوُّل	Punto di svolta
Typology	A descriptive characterization of something, based on multiple perspectives	Typologie	Tipologia	Tipología	Typologie					Tipologia
Unintended consequences	Consequences of an action beyond its intended purpose. The only certainty in a complex system		Consequências não-intencionais	Consecuencias no intencionales						Conseguenze non intenzionali
Vector	A measure characterized by both intensity and direction	Vektor	Vetor	Vector	Vecteur				مُتَّجِه	Vettore
Weak signal	Non-obvious, hard-to-detect signal with the potential of providing anticipatory insight	schwaches Signal	Sinal fraco	Señal débil	Signal faible					Segnale debole
Workshop	Setting aimed at favoring the open discussion of a topic or collective problem solving	Workshop	Oficina, Workshop	Taller, Workshop	Atelier				ورشة عمل	Laboratorio, Workshop
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