ne	rearrangement move the pieces so that unwanted patterns vanish

Whereas repair tries to create wholeness by removing divisions, rearrangement removes emergent or unwanted patterns by  moving the pieces, or moving and clarifying the interfaces between them.  There are various words for this strategem: redesign, reengineering, restructuring, reconfiguration, refactoring or repunctuating.

There is a spectrum of rearrangement.  Minor rearrangement is not much different from repair.  Major rearrangement can be almost equivalent to restarting.  If the context or environment is also changed, this becomes reframing.

Restructuring can also allow replacement patterns to appear.
 

Moving the deckchairs on the Titanic	This is a common metaphor for ineffectual or pointless rearrangement.

Page last updated on January 1st, 2001 Copyright © 2001, Richard Veryard