Sources and Frameworks

The Human Cooperation System (HCS) builds upon a wide range of theories, models, and disciplines that have shaped how humans understand cooperation, trust, group dynamics, and adaptive systems.
This section lists the academic and conceptual influences that inform HCS theory and its derivatives (including 3SF).

Each source is categorized by its theoretical contribution area — systemic, psychological, communicative, or organizational — highlighting how HCS integrates existing knowledge into a unified diagnostic model of human cooperation.

Systems Thinking and Cybernetics

Source / Framework	Core Idea	Relevance to HCS
General Systems Theory (Bertalanffy)	All systems — biological, social, or technical — share structural and functional patterns.	Provides the foundation for viewing cooperation as a system of interacting elements rather than isolated behaviors.
The Fifth Discipline (Peter Senge)	Organizations learn and adapt through feedback and systemic awareness.	Inspires HCS’s focus on feedback loops and collective learning as stabilizing forces.
The Viable System Model (Stafford Beer)	Describes how systems maintain internal stability and external adaptability through recursive control loops.	Informs HCS’s concept of systemic governance and Autonomy–Control balance.
Cybernetics (Wiener / Ashby)	Studies self-regulating systems and the role of feedback and control.	Underpins HCS’s diagnostic logic and Level Rule — stability emerges from functional feedback, not hierarchy.
Complex Adaptive Systems (Holland / Gell-Mann)	Systems evolve through adaptation and local interaction under uncertainty.	Reinforces HCS’s treatment of Change and Uncertainty as natural, not exceptional, conditions.

Human Motivation and Organizational Psychology

Source / Framework	Core Idea	Relevance to HCS
Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow)	Human motivation progresses from basic to self-actualizing needs.	Provides conceptual ancestry for the HCS Pyramid and the Level Rule — higher forms of cooperation rely on lower-level stability.
Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan)	Autonomy, competence, and relatedness drive intrinsic motivation.	Directly informs HCS’s dimensions of Autonomy and Mutual Commitment.
Theory X and Theory Y (McGregor)	Management assumptions influence employee motivation and trust.	Supports HCS’s framing of Trust and Agency as emergent, not enforceable, conditions.
Psychological Safety (Edmondson)	Teams learn and innovate when members feel safe to take interpersonal risks.	Embedded in HCS’s Learning and Adaptation functions and Extended Needs around Trust & Safety.
Social Exchange Theory (Blau)	Relationships are sustained through reciprocal benefit and fairness.	Grounds HCS’s view of Mutual Commitment as both emotional and contractual.
Self-Determination Theory / Modern Motivation Models	Motivation emerges from autonomy, mastery, and belonging rather than external control.	Supports HCS Extended Needs around autonomy, growth, and recognition.
SCARF Model (David Rock)	Social threat and reward shape behavior through status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness.	Provides psychological foundations for Extended Needs and psychological vectors.
Intrinsic Motivation Models (Pink / Oldham / Hackman)	Engagement increases when work is meaningful, self-directed, and feedback-rich.	Aligns with Extended Needs such as purpose, autonomy, and growth.

Communication and Shared Meaning

Source / Framework	Core Idea	Relevance to HCS
Shannon–Weaver Model of Communication	Information transmission depends on reducing noise and distortion.	Forms basis for HCS’s Communication Fidelity and Signal & Response functions.
Double-Loop Learning (Argyris & Schön)	True learning requires questioning underlying assumptions, not just correcting errors.	Informs Reflective Practice and Level 5 Meta-Practices & Innovation.
Sensemaking (Weick)	People construct meaning retrospectively to understand ambiguous situations.	Explains why Shared Understanding is a dynamic, co-created process rather than a static alignment.
Nonviolent Communication (Marshall Rosenberg)	Needs-based, empathetic dialogue that improves relational clarity and trust.	Supports Core Trust (feedback clarity) and Extended Relational Conditions (emotional safety, conflict repair).
Radical Candor (Kim Scott)	Honest, caring communication strengthens accountability and relationships.	Informs relational repair and feedback practices within Extended Dynamics and Conflict Mode.

Organizational Design and Governance

Source / Framework	Core Idea	Relevance to HCS
Sociotechnical Systems Theory (Trist & Emery)	Optimal performance arises when social and technical subsystems are jointly optimized.	Validates HCS’s integration of human and procedural stability layers in the Core Model.
Lean Thinking (Womack & Jones)	Continuous removal of waste to improve flow and value.	Reflects in HCS’s Execution & Coordination and Flow & Focus functions.
Kaizen	Continuous small improvements by all participants.	Embedded in Adaptation & Learning functions and the Diagnostic Workflow.
Adaptive Leadership (Heifetz)	Leadership is about enabling systems to adapt, not control.	Mirrors HCS’s Systemic Governance and Agency principles across System Modes.
Organizational Learning (Argyris, Senge)	Organizations evolve when individuals learn within systemic feedback structures.	Reinforces Systemic Learning, feedback closure, and Level 5 meta-practices.

Power, Influence, and Organizational Politics

Source / Framework	Core Idea	Relevance to HCS
French & Raven’s Bases of Power	Power derives from position, expertise, relationships, information, and personal influence.	Forms the basis of HCS’s political field, explaining how influence affects cooperation beyond formal roles.
Organizational Politics Research (Mintzberg / Pfeffer)	Informal networks, hidden agendas, and resource negotiation shape real decision-making.	Validates HCS’s distinction between formal structure and actual influence flows in Extended Conditions.
Stakeholder Theory (Freeman)	Organizations must manage diverse interests and legitimacy claims.	Supports Collective Extended Needs around fairness, representation, and legitimacy in shared systems.

Team Development, Interpersonal Dynamics, and Conflict

Source / Framework	Core Idea	Relevance to HCS
Group Development Stages (Tuckman)	Teams evolve through Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing (and later Adjourning), with each stage bringing characteristic tensions and needs.	Provides a developmental lens for team dynamics. HCS System Modes (Setup, Stabilization, Growth, Conflict, Reset) echo these stages but are defined at a system level by governance and cooperative function, not just intra-team behavior. Tuckman informs how modes may feel from the inside; HCS Modes define what kind of systemic work is appropriate.
Conflict Styles (Thomas–Kilmann)	People favor competing, avoiding, accommodating, compromising, or collaborating under tension.	Helps interpret relational distortions in Extended Conditions and supports Conflict Mode diagnostics.
Attachment Theory (Bowlby / Ainsworth)	Safety and past relational patterns influence trust and conflict behaviour.	Provides psychological grounding for individual Extended Needs (safety, belonging) and for interpreting reactions under stress.
Emotional Intelligence (Goleman)	Self-awareness and empathy shape communication effectiveness and conflict handling.	Aligns with relational conditions and leader behaviour in Extended Dynamics and Conflict Mode.

Philosophical and Ethical Foundations

Source / Framework	Core Idea	Relevance to HCS
Aristotle – Nicomachean Ethics	Virtue arises from practiced balance between extremes.	Influences HCS’s pursuit of equilibrium between autonomy and control, stability and change.
Kantian Ethics	Human cooperation is grounded in respect for rational agency.	Echoes in HCS’s concept of Agency and moral interdependence between cooperating parties.
Ubuntu Philosophy (“I am because we are”)	Human identity and well-being are inseparable from community.	Embodies the relational worldview behind Interdependence and Mutual Commitment.
Phenomenology (Husserl / Merleau-Ponty)	Meaning is constructed through lived experience.	Supports HCS’s principle that Shared Understanding emerges through interaction, not instruction.

Bridging Toward Practice

Source / Framework	Core Idea	Relevance to HCS
Agile / Lean / Scrum	Frameworks that operationalize adaptability, feedback, and incremental delivery.	Represent Level 4 practices that rely on stable lower-level HCS conditions (Preconditions, Needs, Functions).
3-in-3 SDLC Framework (3SF)	Systemic governance model for client–vendor ecosystems and software delivery.	Serves as an applied derivative of HCS: it uses HCS principles to design concrete contracts, roles, and practices across client–vendor–product triangles.
Team Topologies (Skelton & Pais)	Structures teams for flow and cognitive load balance.	In practice, can be evaluated through HCS’s Execution & Coordination and Boundary Management functions.
VMOSA / OKR / Wardley Maps	Strategic planning and situational awareness frameworks.	Connect to Strategic Alignment and Problem Discovery functions at Level 3, translating cooperative intent into measurable direction.
Situational Leadership (Hersey–Blanchard)	Leadership behaviour must match follower readiness and capability.	Supports Extended Needs around growth, autonomy, and developmental alignment, especially in Growth Mode.
Liberating Structures	Creates equal-opportunity participation environments.	Supports fairness, belonging, and balanced contribution in Extended Dynamics and collective interventions.
RACI / Decision Records (ADR/CDR)	Makes decisions, ownership, and roles explicit.	Reinforces Core Conditions: clarity, coordination, and boundary safety; can be mapped directly to Distribution of Roles and related functions.

Reference Philosophy

HCS does not seek to supersede these theories — it synthesizes their enduring principles into a unified, practical system for diagnosing cooperation.

In essence:
HCS = (Systems Thinking + Organizational Psychology) × (Communication + Adaptive Governance)
structured through the Pyramid (stability hierarchy) and Matrix (functional map),
extended by Human Dynamics and System Modes,
and made usable through Diagnostics and applied frameworks like 3SF.