Methodology Work Is Ontology Work

Abstract

I argue that a successful switch from one methodology to another requires a switch from one ontology to another. Large-scale adoption of a new methodology means "infecting " people with new ideas about what sorts of things there are in the (software development) world and how those things hang together. The paper ends with some suggestions to methodology creators about how to design methodologies that encourage the needed "gestalt switch". In this paper, I'm going to abuse the word "ontology". In philosophy, an ontology is an inventory of the kinds of things that actually exist, and (often) of the kinds of relations that can exist between those things. My abuse is that I want ontology to be active, to drive people's actions. I'm particularly interested in unreflective actions, actions people take because they are the obvious thing to do in a situation, given the way the world is. Here are some examples of ontologies