Redefinition Theory: Axioms and a Four-Phase, Eight-Step Model of Value Creation and Renewal
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: This conceptual paper proposes Redefinition Theory, a general theory of how value is created and how it is sustained. Its central claim is stated in one sentence: value is defined, and every definition decays. Existing frameworks treat the creation of new value and the renewal of established value as separate problems. Procedural frameworks such as design thinking and lean startup do not, in their main formulations, include a mechanism for decay, while explanatory theories of change, such as those of Kuhn, Schumpeter and Christensen, offer no procedure that individuals or organizations can run. Redefinition Theory addresses both gaps with a single loop. It rests on five axioms (Definition, Decay, Adoption, Material and Vantage), a scope condition that limits the theory to value created by shifting the center of an existing definition (Medio Shift), and one corollary: whatever optimizes only inside a definition cannot, by itself, redefine it. From these, the paper derives a four-phase, eight-step model (Notice, Surface, Shift, Name, Ship, Land, Release, Watch) organized into Discover, Define, Deliver and Sustain, with a small loop and a large loop. The model is positioned against recombination theory, conceptual blending, frame innovation, design-driven innovation, the theory of the business, double-loop learning, assumption surfacing, market category research, organizational unlearning and planned abandonment. The paper distinguishes two forms of decay, the loss of fit with reality and the loss of distinctiveness, and identifies an adoption–decay paradox: the more widely a definition is adopted, the faster it loses its distinctiveness. It closes with six testable propositions and one applied proposition on the division of labor between humans and artificial intelligence. 本稿は、価値がどのように生まれ、どのように持続するのかを説明する一般理論として、再定義理論(Redefinition Theory)を提案する概念論文である。中心となる主張は一文で表せる。価値は定義されるものであり、すべての定義は古びる。既存の枠組みは、新しい価値の創造と、確立した価値の更新を、別々の問題として扱ってきた。本稿は五つの公理(定義、減衰、採用、素材、視点)、既存の定義の中心を移すことによる価値創造(メディオ・シフト)に対象を限る範囲の定義、一つの系から、発見する・定義する・形にする・持続させるの四つのフェーズと八つのステップからなるモデルを導く。あわせて、減衰を「現実との適合の減衰」と「独自性の減衰」に分け、「採用と減衰の逆説」を示す。最後に、検証できる六つの命題と、人と人工知能の役割分担に関する一つの応用命題を示す。本稿には英語版と日本語版を収めている。
Author: Kanasugi, Hajime
Language: English
Subfield: Strategy and Management
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7222685704
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