meansways

Meansways is a neologism used in some discussions of action theory, decision making, and project planning to describe the integrated consideration of available means and viable ways to achieve a goal. The term blends the two elements it refers to: means, the resources, tools, and capacities at an agent's disposal; and ways, the methods, processes, routes, or plans by which those means might be applied. In this sense, meansways emphasizes that effective action depends not only on what is possible, but on which pathways are plausible given constraints and goals.

Origin and usage in the literature are varied and nonstandard. The term is not widely adopted across disciplines, and its precise definition can shift with context. A meansways approach generally frames decision making as an evaluation of both components together rather than in isolation. This can help highlight trade-offs between resource availability and procedural feasibility, as well as the alignment of means with preferred methods.

Applications are found in fields such as project management, organizational planning, and policy analysis. In these areas, practitioners may map options by pairing resources (financing, personnel, equipment) with implementation paths (timelines, workflows, governance procedures) to identify practical, coherent courses of action.

Limitations include a lack of formal standardization and potential ambiguity if the term is not clearly defined within a given work. See also instrumental rationality, resource allocation, and planning methods for related concepts.