Part 0 – The Coherence Problem: How Institutions Learn, Drift, and Realign (Programme Preprint)

Description The Coherence Problem: How Institutions Learn, Drift, and Realign is a research programme that investigates how institutional decision systems maintain alignment over time under conditions of complexity and delayed feedback. The programme introduces the Operating Spine, a formal decision-learning architecture linking purpose, capabilities, value drivers, strategy, portfolios, and signals, and identifies translation drift as a structural mechanism through which meaning gradually shifts across governance layers. It further develops methods for observing translation coherence and derives design principles for governance in AI-mediated environments. This record serves as the programme statement for a linked series of preprints presenting the architecture, mechanism, measurement framework, and design implications in detail. Version 1.00This is the first public release of the programme statement. It defines the conceptual scope, core constructs, and structural framework of the research programme. Empirical studies, measurement instruments, and field applications are currently in preparation and will be released in subsequent linked records.