styleguide.md

Styleguide

Capitalization Rules

1. Pattern names are capitalized (Title Case) Patterns are treated as named artifacts (in headings, cross-references, tables of contents, and indexes)

   • Clarifying Scope
   • Responding to Organizational Drivers

2. Headings use Title Case

   • Chapter titles
   • Section headings
   • Pattern titles

3. Key concepts and all other glossary terms are lowercase.

   Their specific meaning is provided by the introduction, by glossary definitions and overlays/footnotes on first occurrence)

   • domain, driver, requirement, intervention, etc.

4. Structural recursion uses lowercase sub- (hyphenated where helpful)

   • subdomain
   • subdriver
   • sub-requirement

5. Proper nouns are capitalized

   • Sociocracy
   • Sociocratic Circle-Organisation Method

6. Job titles Capitalize only when the title precedes or replaces a name, lowercase otherwise:

   • Warrant Officer Elen Ripley
   • the Chief Product Officer
   • Ellen Ripley, warrant officer

7. In running text, capitalize after a colon only when a complete sentence follows.

8. Capitalized sets within a pattern

   Within a pattern, capitalize terms only when they label a fixed, explicitly defined set of aspects that the pattern repeatedly refers to by name. This capitalization is local to the pattern and used for navigational clarity, not to indicate conceptual hierarchy.

   • Key Responsibilities, Delegator Responsibilities

9. Capitalization of concepts in introduction chapters

   Concepts are capitalized only in the chapter where they are formally introduced and defined.

   Overview or orientation sections do not count as introductions, and capitalization does not extend beyond the chapter in which the concepts are introduced.