definitions of Objective, Intent and Commitment

[Ken Laskey <klaskey@mitre.org>]

I’ve read through section 3 and will put together comments, but a topic of conversation during the last call was the definition of Objective.  As I understand the last proposed wording, it is

 

An objective is a measureable real world effect that an actor uses an action to achieve.

 

1.       Real world effect is defined as “a measureable change” so adding the word measureable is redundant.

2.       If a consumer initiates a service interaction so the provider will engage in actions that result in the objective, there is a degree of indirection the definition seems to miss.

 

I suggest

 

An objective is a real world effect that results through the intended actions of one or more actors.

 

Couple follow up thoughts.

-          I wouldn’t have trouble with the original definition that says “wishes”.  There are words we can just use in their usual English language context and, short of Aladdin and the genie in the movie, I think the reader will have no problem with saying the actor desires the objective.

-          The definition of Intent that follows the definition of Objective uses commitment in a slightly different context than the definition in section 3.1.3.  A previous definition was

 

Intent is a willingness by a member of a social structure to perform actions to achieve a stated goal.

 

And then

 

A commitment is a stated intent regarding the status of a shared state in the future.

 

I think we’ll need to be careful when we use “goal” and when we use “objective” – there is some inconsistency in the text, but I’d otherwise put these forward for consideration.

 

Ken

 

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Dr. Kenneth Laskey

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