procedurethes

Procedurethes is a theoretical framework for designing, documenting, and validating procedural knowledge within organizations and automated systems. It aims to convert tacit know-how into explicit procedures that are auditable, reproducible, and adaptable. The term combines 'procedure' with 'theses' to emphasize that each step is accompanied by a justified claim about its purpose and expected outcome.

Origin and scope: The concept arises in discussions of knowledge management and process design, where practitioners seek integrated representations that link actions to rationale, evidence, and results rather than to steps alone. Procedurethes is intended as a flexible template rather than a fixed protocol.

Core components: A procedural schema (the sequence of actions), an epistemic justification (why each step is performed), and a normative outcome (the intended result). Supporting elements include constraints, exception handling, and metrics for verification and auditing.

Methodology: Practitioners elicit expert knowledge, formalize it into structured representations, and validate it through testing, reviews, and real-world audits. Deployment integrates the framework with existing workflows and documentation, while monitoring collects data to refine the procedures over time.

Applications and relation to other concepts: Procedurethes is used in manufacturing, software engineering, healthcare, and education to improve transparency and repeatability. It is related to standard operating procedures and workflow models but emphasizes justification and evidence as integral components.

Limitations: Potential complexity and maintenance overhead; risk of rigidity if over-formalized; requires governance to prevent drift and misapplication. Related concepts include standard operating procedures, workflows, process mining, and knowledge management.