Relational Dynamics™ · ECC Model · A Conceptual Model for Thinking About System Trajectories · v0.1

Relational Dynamics™ is the original theory of system trajectories developed by Dr Alice Jing Shan 单景, providing a lens for understanding how systems form, stabilise, drift, adapt, and sometimes collapse under constraint over time. The ECC Model is a downstream working frame of the Ontology of Relational Dynamics within Relational Dynamics™: Theory of System Trajectories and a cross-domain conceptual modelling device for thinking about system trajectories. The Ontology of Relational Dynamics establishes the core ontological claim: Reality is relational dynamics under constraint over time. Downstream from this ontological position, the ECC Model articulates a core working frame: Excellence is capacity held in coherence under constraint over time. One shorthand is: Excellence = ∫ Capacity(t) · Coherence(t) dt, under constraint. The ECC Model is a conceptual model for thinking, not a hard predictive formula. It provides a compact way to examine how capacity and coherence interact under constraint over time, and how their changing relationship may shape system trajectories across domains. Application: The ECC Model can be applied across organisational, institutional, technological, educational and social domains to analyse and interpret system trajectories in which capacity and coherence change in relation to one another under constraint over time. It may support comparative, diagnostic and exploratory reasoning about system conditions and trajectories. The model does not, by itself, prescribe specific interventions or assume a universal causal relationship between capacity and coherence. Application requires attention to the particular system boundary, constraints, timescale and relational configuration under examination. For the upstream ontological position, see: Relational Dynamics™: Ontology of Relational Dynamics · v0.2 (Shan, 2026), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20465007. Further context on AJS — A Justified Source — as the public writing and archival interface for Dr Alice Jing Shan’s work is available at: https://alicejingshan.substack.com/ Traceability is part of the method. The framework may evolve, but its evolution should remain visible. ——— Keywords: Relational Dynamics™; Relational Dynamics™: Theory of System Trajectories; ECC Model; Ontology of Relational Dynamics; system trajectories; system trajectory; Excellence; Capacity; Coherence; constraint; time; under constraint over time; Excellence is capacity held in coherence under constraint over time; conceptual model; conceptual modelling; cross-domain modelling; systems thinking; complexity; complex systems; human systems; organisational systems; institutional systems; technological systems; educational systems; social systems; system-level excellence; system stability; system boundaries; diagnostic reasoning; exploratory reasoning; comparative reasoning; AI; artificial intelligence; governance; ScholarLand Ltd; Alice Jing Shan; versioning; traceability ——— Use and Permissions This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). It may be cited and shared for non-commercial scholarly and educational purposes with proper attribution and without modification. Any use beyond the permissions granted under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, including commercial use and the distribution of adaptations or derivative works, or incorporation of Relational Dynamics™, the Ontology of Relational Dynamics, the ECC Model, its core formulations, diagrams, conceptual structures, or related materials into paid courses, consultancy, training programmes, workshops, institutional learning products, organisational diagnostic materials, or other commercial materials, requires prior written permission and, where applicable, a separate licensing agreement from Dr Alice Jing SHAN 单景 / ScholarLand Ltd.