INTENTION IN INTERVENTION: A CONCEPTUAL MODEL

Abstract

Intentions serve multiple roles in human action. They help in making sense of our actions and those of others, and on this basis, coordination is possible. They cause, guide and sustain our actions. Additionally, they are about the present when we do act intentionally, but also they are about the future when we intend to do something later. From the aforementioned characteristics, it can be argued that intentions have a fundamental part in organizational interventions. Based on this assumption the paper proposes a model to make use of intentions in interventions. It aims to help in describing, conducting and learning about intervention processes. The model uses the graphical language advanced by the Soft Systems Methodology. The concept of intention and the assembling of the model, draw from Philosophies of Action, Language and Explanation and by the Theories of Relevance, Boundary Critique, and Complex Adaptive Systems.