Directionality in Cross Domain Relationships

Passive domains

Passive and Active domain concepts

• Some domains are active — they initiate, drive, or own relationships (e.g. Strategy, Capability, Stakeholder).

• Others are passive — they are typically referenced, used, governed, or measured. These domains do not initiate relationships.

The following Orthogramic domains are considered passive:

These domains typically do not initiate relationships. For example:

• It’s more accurate to say a Capability uses Information than to say Information informs Capability.

• A Policy governs Information — not the other way around.

• A Performance metric is influenced by Initiatives, not vice versa.

Directionality of cross domain relationships

Passive domains must not initiate cross domain relationships
Applies to: Cross domain relationship definition and visualisation

Definition:
Cross domain relationships must be modelled with active domains as the source and passive domains as the target. Passive domains must not initiate outbound relationships.

Passive domains include:

• Information

• Policy

• Performance

• Product

• Service

Correct examples:

• Strategy → Capability

• Capability → Service

• Initiative → Performance

• Stakeholder → Policy

Incorrect examples:

• Information → Capability : informs ❌

• Performance → Initiative : measured by ❌

• Policy → Stakeholder : constrains ❌

Implementation guidance:

• In diagrams, passive domains only appear as targets.

• In JSON or RDF representations, relationships originate from active domains.

• Verbs such as informs, measures, or describes are used only in documentation, not as relationship types sourced from passive domains.

Rationale:
This ensures semantic clarity, avoids visual clutter, and supports reasoning engines that depend on clear relationship directionality.