THE ACTION CALCULUS

A Diagnostic Framework for Understanding Human Action

Executive Summary

Why do people fail to do what they say they want to do? Not occasionally, but systematically—across domains, across cultures, across centuries? The Action Calculus answers this question with a diagnostic framework built on a single insight: action emerges only when three factors align. Can I do it? (Capacity.) Is it worth it? (Value.) Do I want to? (Motivation.) When any factor approaches zero, it blocks action regardless of the others—just as any number multiplied by zero yields zero.

Part One presents this framework in its most accessible form: twelve chapters that develop the three questions, explore how the factors interact dynamically, and apply the model to diagnosing yourself, others, and groups. This is the version most readers need.

Part Two formalizes the framework for researchers, clinicians, and organizational designers. It introduces a four-stage sequential architecture—Gate Check, Value Calculation, Motivation Weighting, and Individual Calibration—that nests inside the simple model without contradicting it. The complete theory adds expected value analysis, motivation as a mathematical multiplier, and stable individual parameters that explain why identical situations produce different decisions in different people.

Part Three maps the Action Calculus onto the steamHouse developmental framework, addressing the question the model deliberately leaves open: not whether to act, but what is worth acting for. Here the diagnostic machinery meets purpose, principle, and the deeper question beneath every calculation—What am I for?

Thirty chapters. One integrated framework. A lens you carry, not a book you finish.

Table of Contents

Part One: The Essential Framework

  • Chapter 1: The Question Worth Asking

  • Chapter 2: The Simple Version First

  • Chapter 3: The Capacity Question (Part I) — Gates That Must Open

  • Chapter 4: The Capacity Question (Part II) — Diagnosing Capacity

  • Chapter 5: The Value Question (Part I) — The Expected Value Structure

  • Chapter 6: The Value Question (Part II) — How Value Gets Distorted

  • Chapter 7: The Motivation Question (Part I) — The Three Drivers

  • Chapter 8: The Motivation Question (Part II) — When Motivation Fails

  • Chapter 9: Interaction Effects — How the Three Factors Influence Each Other

  • Chapter 10: Feedback Loops and Spirals — How Momentum Works

  • Chapter 11: Applications (Part I) — Diagnosing Yourself

  • Chapter 12: Applications (Part II) — Diagnosing Others and Groups

Part Two: The Complete Theory

  • Chapter 13: Why Deeper Precision Matters

  • Chapter 14: The Stage Model Architecture

  • Chapter 15: Stage 1 — Gate Functions

  • Chapter 16: Stage 2 — Expected Value Theory

  • Chapter 17: Stage 3 — Motivation as Multiplier

  • Chapter 18: Stage 4 — Individual Calibration

  • Chapter 19: The Complete Formal Model

  • Chapter 20: Connecting to Decision Theory

  • Chapter 21: Applications of the Complete Model

  • Chapter 22: The Boundaries of Calculation

Part Three: The Action Calculus Through a steamHouse Lens

  • Chapter 23: Where the Model Meets Purpose

  • Chapter 24: The Four Principles and the Calculus

  • Chapter 25: Developmental Applications

  • Chapter 26: Mentor Application Guide

  • Chapter 27: A Note from the Chronicles

  • Chapter 28: The Limits of Calculation

  • Chapter 29: The Case for steamHouse

  • Chapter 30: The Question Beneath the Question