The Coherence Problem: How Institutions Learn, Drift, and Realign

Why drift is not a failure—but a built-in property of how institutions operate. Institutions rarely break suddenly—they shift gradually while appearing stable. This paper defines the core problem: how changes in meaning become embedded in decisions before they are visible in outcomes. It introduces coherence as a problem of visibility—whether shifts in interpretation can be observed early enough to act on. By defining Translation Drift, Translation Coherence, and Interpretive Maintenance, the paper establishes the conceptual foundation for analysing how institutions learn, drift, and realign over time. About the Coherence ProgrammeThe Coherence Programme studies why institutions drift despite appearing aligned. It shows that decisions are made not on intent itself, but on how intent is translated into criteria, metrics, and allocation rules. Using the Operating Spine, the programme traces how purpose becomes action across governance layers, making drift and coherence directly observable within decision systems. The research applies to public institutions, capital allocation, and AI-mediated environments, where the durability of decision rules determines long-term institutional reliability.Programme citation: Mertens, R. E. U. (2026). The Coherence Programme: A Conceptual Overview and Entry Point to the Research Programme. Resources: Coherence Programme OSF repository and https://thecoherenceprogramme.org Version 1.00: This is the first public release of the programme statement. It defines the conceptual scope, core constructs, and structural framework of the research programme. Empirical studies, measurement instruments, and field applications are currently in preparation and will be released in subsequent linked records.Version 1.01: Minor update: programme structure and linked records updated to include Part 5 (Field Protocol), Epilogue, and Capstone.Version 1.02: Programme Consolidation Update: This version consolidates the manuscript within the unified Coherence Programme structure.Titles, terminology, and internal cross-references have been harmonised across the series to stabilise the programme’s core constructs: Translation Drift (mechanism) Translation Coherence (metric) Interpretive Maintenance (governance function) Distributed Coherence (theoretical integration) No changes have been made to the formal architecture, boundary conditions, methodological logic, or theoretical claims.The update improves cross-paper traceability, indexing consistency, and conceptual coherence across the programme.Version 1.03: Minor structural and readability refinements to the programme statement. No changes to the theoretical framework, constructs, or research design.Version 1.04: Terminology harmonisation and minor structural refinements to improve consistency across the Coherence Programme. No changes to the theoretical framework, constructs, or research design.Version 1.05: Positioning within organisational scholarship clarified and literature references expanded. Minor editorial refinements for clarity and structure. No changes to the theoretical framework, constructs, or research design.Version 1.06: Editorial refinement of the programme statement. Redundant formulations removed, definitional precision improved, and terminology standardised. Clarifications added to translation interfaces and their empirical observability through governance artefacts. No changes to the theoretical framework, constructs, or research design.Version 1.07: Final editorial stabilisation of the programme statement. Minor redundancies removed, phrasing tightened, and internal consistency improved across definitions and sections. Clarifications added to reinforce construct usage and reduce potential interpretive ambiguity. No changes to the theoretical framework, core constructs, empirical strategy, or research design.Version 1.08: Final precision editing following structural cleanup. Residual redundancies removed and sentence-level clarity and cross-section consistency tightened. No changes to the theoretical framework, constructs, or research design.Version 1.09: Minor conceptual clarifications, consistency improvements, reviewer-informed refinements, and editorial updates across the programme.