The framework / 03
The machinery of action
The machinery of action brings several kinds of work into one model: receiving information, appreciating the situation, bringing principles to bear, planning, deciding, maintaining resolve and carrying something out.
The model helps locate what needs to be examined in an undertaking. In business strategy, this may involve understanding customers’ needs, choosing what to offer, arranging the means to provide it and adapting the course in light of experience. These functions can recur and interact as circumstances develop.
The example follows a manufacturer considering a new source of income through a maintenance service. It shows how the work of implementing a strategy can also give reasons to revise it.
Illustrative example
Introducing a maintenance service
A manufacturer wants to add a paid maintenance service for businesses that use its equipment. It prepares a small trial, carries out the first visits and reviews what happened. During the trial, travel takes longer than expected and reduces the time available for repair work already promised to customers.
Rows show kinds of work. Columns show successive phases. Empty cells have no example shown.
| Kind of work | Preparing a trial | Running the trial | Reviewing the trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Information | |||
| Appreciation | No example shown | ||
| Principles | No example shown | No example shown | |
| Planning | No example shown | ||
| Decision | No example shown | ||
| Resolve | No example shown | No example shown | |
| Execution | No example shown |
Preparing a trial
Information
Principles
Planning
Execution
Several kinds of work in one undertaking
Select an example to see its explanation and connected work. A phase may involve receiving information, planning, deciding and carrying something out.
Stages and phases
Stages, in Austin’s use here, distinguish kinds of work involved in acting. Phases distinguish successive parts of an undertaking. Preparing a trial, running it and reviewing it may each involve gathering information, appreciating the situation, planning and deciding.
The distinction allows two questions to be asked: which part of the undertaking is involved, and what kind of work within it needs attention? The order and interaction of the functions depend on the activity. The rows are analytical distinctions; they need not form a fixed sequence. An empty cell means that no example is shown.
Austin also refers to stretches: how much of what happens is covered by a description of an action. Sending an offer and recruiting customers for the trial can cover different extents of what happens. The wider undertaking includes the offer and the customers’ responses.
From description to judgement
The principle Take circumstances and evidence into account guides an examination of the trial. Longer travel times change the significance of the original schedule. The team needs to consider what the extra work involves, how it affects repairs already promised and what a revised schedule could achieve.
The business also adopts a principle for its own conduct: keep existing commitments when taking on new work. Applying it requires attention to the actual bookings, available technicians and time needed. People can agree on that principle and the travel records while differing over which schedule would satisfy it.
These descriptions support several distinct questions. Was the service delivered as promised? Did it earn enough to cover its costs? Does the trial justify offering it more widely? Calling the trial ‘successful’ requires specifying the achievement and the evidence for it. The decision to proceed can also be assessed in light of what was reasonably known when it was made.
The trial gives the team a reason to group visits and restrict the service area. It continues locally while gathering more information. The account records both the reason for that choice and the unresolved question of whether the service would work more widely.
Different descriptions of an action
Alex sends a priced maintenance offer to selected existing customers. Alex intends both to recruit customers for the trial and to find out who will take up the offer. Several customers accept, and Alex records their responses.
Sending an offer
This description focuses on sending the offer. Customers accepting and Alex recording their responses are subsequent actions.
The highlighted events show the stretch covered by this description.
The stated intentions and what actually happened support these descriptions. Each wider description covers more of the undertaking. The extent of the description matters when asking what was done, what was achieved and what remains to be established.
Plain Strategy, developed by Dr Julien Maréchal. © 2026 The Governance Practice.
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