CMM looks at conversations from a stand point of "why they happen" and what the "underlying meaning" is.
It uses the concept of "persons-in-conversation" which was coined by Pearce and Cronen
to show communication from the inside.
CMM was first introduced in the 1970's when Pearce and Cronen suggested that "our talk creates the
social environment in which we live." This was an absurd idea to most people in that time because
they all focused on the "cause and effect" language of behavioral sciences.
CMM looks at Coherence, Coordination and Mystery and when put together equal the work of the
persons in conversation. These words refer back to the stories told by people, lived and unexpressed
by people. This process is a lifetime job that is an on going process.
Coherence looks at how persons-in-conversations try to achieve meaning through stories or conversations that they tell.
The process in which we determine what we want to accomplish and achieve in the future conversation is Coordination
The mystery part is everything that is in the future and the outcome of the conversation and things that we can't predict.
These three co-exist and all are needed to explain why there are no isolated speech acts and that everything is connected in some way.
These are just the basic concepts and some applications. To learn more about this theory please visit these sites: