The functional axis
A Function Dimension isn't an industry or a domain label. It's an ontological archetype — a small, universal set of categories that, together, classify every meaningful element of any organisation without overlap and without gaps.
The shift
Most metadata models classify assets by domain — data, governance, business, technology. That works for a catalog, but breaks the moment you need one classification to cover a factory-floor asset, an AI model, a legal regulation and a sales process with equal precision. Nodwise classifies instead by what something fundamentally is and does in any organisation. That is the Function Dimension — and when a node is assigned one, it inherits a semantic contract: the universal relationships and behaviours every instance of that archetype shares.
from
"what sector does this belong to?"
to
"what does this fundamentally do?"
A Table and a finished good are different sectors — but both are Resources, and both behave like Resources in the model.
Not instead of — across
Every node type in Nodwise is filed twice, and the two filings answer different questions.
Where it lives
One of ten Organization Dimensions, which owns its governance and its lifecycle.
What it fundamentally does
One of twelve Function Dimensions, which gives it its semantic contract.
node type
organisation
function
function category
Technical Skill
Core Capability
Read one way they are neighbours. Read the other they separate cleanly — a Technical Skill is something an actor holds; a Core Capability is something an offering has. One axis says who governs them. The other says how they behave. Two axes, because one of them was never enough.
The boundaries
Every other element exists in the space between what cannot be done and what the organisation is pursuing — and is accountable to both.
Motivation
"For what end?"
The articulated purpose — forward-looking, teleological. Every element should trace back to at least one, or it is organisational debt.
Constraint
"What cannot be done?"
A standing condition that permanently limits or prohibits what is possible — continuously in force until revoked.
constraint ——— the organisation operates here ——— motivation
The ten between the poles
Each dimension is the archetype; beside it sit the categories that refine it. Twelve dimensions resolve into twenty-eight categories (the two poles' categories are shown above).
Actor
01
Does it act?
Someone or something with agency — it initiates and executes action.
Task
02
Is it done?
An activity done to achieve a purpose — it transforms inputs into outputs.
Resource
03
Is it used or consumed?
Something of value that is used, consumed, or transformed — passive, acted upon.
Service
04
Is it provided or obtained?
An intangible action with a direction — provided to a consumer, or obtained from a provider.
Environment
05
Does it host others so they can operate?
A context that hosts actors and resources — it enables by providing the space they operate in.
Event
06
Does it occur / trigger?
A discrete occurrence in time — a trigger or signal that marks a transition.
Information
07
Does it describe facts?
Structured, communicable representations of facts — exists independently of any actor.
Knowledge
08
Does it enable understanding?
Internalized understanding — information processed, validated and applied. It enables, not just describes.
Skill & Features
09
Does it enable action?
An ability that enables tasks to be performed — held by an actor, distinct from the actor itself.
Group
10
Does it organise others?
A universal organiser — its one relation is groups. It collects and structures any element of any dimension; it doesn't act, host, or constrain by itself.
The completeness test
Together the twelve answer every fundamental question about any organisational element. The most important one — "for what end?" — earns its own dimension.
Question
Answered by
Example
Who?
What?
How?
Where?
When?
Why?
For what end?
What limits us?
"Why?" is causal and backward-looking — Information suffices. "For what end?" is purposive and forward-looking — it needs a dedicated Motivation so the model can answer the deepest governance question: can every element be traced to an explicit purpose?
The grammar
Archetypes don't just sit in a list — they relate through a fixed vocabulary of typed relations. Each relation is a verb with a real-world reading, so any organisational question becomes a single model traversal.
relation types, grouped by subject
Actor
Task
Service
Resource
Event
Information
Knowledge
Skill & Features
Motivation
Constraint
Try it on your own material
Bring a slice of your organisation — systems, processes, people — and watch each element land on its archetype, with the grammar already connecting them.