SIGNAL: A Generative Framework for Collective Learning Capability Foundational Concept Paper V1.0

SIGNAL (Connectivity, Symmetry, Initiative, and Sensitivity) is a conceptual framework proposed to explain how collective learning capability emerges within organizations operating in complex, uncertain, and changing environments. The framework introduces four generative interaction principles: Connectivity: the ability to connect relevant actors, information, resources, and concerns. Symmetry: the ability of information, questions, and feedback to exert influence regardless of hierarchy or status. Initiative: the tendency of actors to initiate inquiry, communication, coordination, and action without waiting for formal instruction. Sensitivity: the capacity to detect weak signals, changes, anomalies, and emerging conditions. SIGNAL proposes that these four principles constitute a minimal set of interaction mechanisms through which organizations may develop adaptive self-organization and collective learning capability. Unlike approaches that treat safety culture, resilience, or organizational capability as relatively static organizational attributes, SIGNAL conceptualizes them as emergent outcomes generated through dynamic interaction patterns among organizational actors. This Concept Paper v1.0 establishes the initial formulation of the framework and records its foundational hypotheses, conceptual assumptions, theoretical positioning, and future research agenda. It is intended to provide a publicly accessible, citable, and version-controlled reference for future theoretical development, empirical studies, simulation research, and practical applications. The framework is currently presented as a working hypothesis and research program rather than a validated theory. Future work will explore conceptual refinement, agent-based modeling, case studies, network analysis, and empirical investigation of the proposed principles. This publication constitutes the first public release of SIGNAL Concept Paper v1.0 and serves as a timestamped reference for the framework's original formulation. Keywords: SIGNAL, Collective Learning Capability, Organizational Learning, Safety Culture, Resilience, Adaptive Self-Organization, Complex Adaptive Systems, Connectivity, Symmetry, Initiative, Sensitivity