Mechanisms

A mechanism is a domain-specific implementation of an archetype's intervention. Where an archetype describes the form of a solution ("isolate the failing subsystem"), a mechanism is one concrete way to enact it ("a circuit breaker pattern in a microservice", "a tabletop exercise in incident response", "A/B testing in product development"). Mechanisms are the rung below components in the reasoning stack: more specific, more domain-flavored, more recipe-like.

The catalog references 9,939 mechanisms across the solution archetypes; 9,858 currently have a full mechanism page. There are several ways to explore them: use the Browse options below to move through the catalog alphabetically, by the problem being addressed, by the concrete form it takes, by the move a solution makes, or by the tradition in which it originated.

Browse

• Alphabetically — search or sort the full A–Z registry of 9,914 described mechanisms.
• By problem family — start with the structural condition that makes a solution necessary, then narrow to a more specific recurring problem pattern.
• By form family — browse the 15 concrete forms a practitioner deploys, enacts, maintains, or convenes.
• By solution family — browse the 60 governing moves, then move through their solution archetypes to concrete mechanisms.
• By origin domain — browse mechanisms by reviewed historical or practice origins, with large domains subdivided by solution family.