Gravity Grains

Structural Taxonomy

Hourglass Architecture is supported by a set of structural units that give the discipline its clarity and coherence. While earlier chapters describe the motion of the architecture, this chapter focuses on the objects and interpretive surfaces that make that motion possible: the containers, environments, and governance structures that operate inside real organizations.

These structural units form the ontology of the discipline. They define what exists within Hourglass Architecture, how those units relate to one another, and how they collectively support the movement of work through the hourglass. Understanding these structures is essential for anyone who intends to practice or implement the architecture at scale.

The sections that follow introduce each structural unit in turn, including:

  • the organizational context in which hourglasses are instantiated
  • a high‑altitude structural overview
  • the hourglass as the primary container
  • the missions and programs that carry work
  • the Pillars and BEAMs that structure interpretation and transparency
  • the environments that support execution, operations, and legacy
  • the governance units that oversee coherence and consequence
  • the Agents who practice the architecture

Together, these units form the structural backbone of Hourglass Architecture and establish the framework through which the discipline maintains coherence across time, scope, and organizational complexity.

Structural Taxonomy

  1. Organizational Context
    The offices, domains, committees, and regulatory structures within which hourglasses are instantiated and governed.
  2. Structural Overview
    A high‑altitude map of the structural units of Hourglass Architecture and how they relate within the organizational container.
  3. Hourglasses
    The primary structural containers that hold missions, foci, Pillars, BEAMs, and the full motion of the architecture.
  4. Missions
    The atomic units of work that move through the architecture and accumulate into programs.
  5. Team
    The unified structural organism that digests missions and carries work into legacy.
  6. Programs
    Structural containers that group related missions and provide continuity across time and scope.
  7. Pillars
    The interpretive surfaces that transform missions into coherent, feasible, and inspectable iterations of work.
  8. BEAMs
    The transparency structure that reveals how the Team has self‑organized and what it plans to execute.
  9. Execution Environments
    The structural spaces where iterations enter active delivery within defined architectural boundaries.
  10. Operational Environments
    The structural spaces where delivered work is supported, sustained, and refined over time.
  11. Legacy Environments
    The institutional memory layer where consequence becomes knowledge and informs future missions.
  12. Governance Units
    The structural mechanisms that preserve coherence, alignment, and consequence awareness across hourglasses.
  13. Agents
    The certified practitioners who operate within the architecture and carry missions through its structural units.