Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 494
Agreement on the term, not the thing
The Ogden–Richards Semantic Triangle separates symbol, thought or reference, and referent so apparent agreement in language can be tested against concepts and real-world conditions
Premise
Shared terminology is not evidence of shared meaning. The Ogden–Richards Semantic Triangle separates the symbol used in communication, the thought or reference it evokes, and the referent—the object, event, condition, or relation the communication is about. Its central warning is the indirect connection between word and thing.
A board can repeatedly say “high risk,” “customer centricity,” or “strategy” while participants connect those symbols to different concepts and different evidence. The executive problem is not solved by vocabulary consistency alone. Meaning must be tested through the interpretive reference and the referent that participants believe the term denotes.
What the model is: Ogden–Richards Semantic Triangle in Knowledge →
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- CategoryAnalytical Frameworks, Typologies & Heuristics
- DomainMeaning & Clarity
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Model
In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.
Editorial orientation · Category
Analytical Frameworks, Typologies & Heuristics
Organizes dimensions, distinctions, types or questions so that a situation can be examined systematically. A framework supplies structure, a typology distinguishes forms, and a heuristic offers a usable way to orient judgment.
- KnowledgeOgden–Richards Semantic Triangle