Innovation · Pipeline and gates · Component
Gate decision record
What was decided at each gate, by whom, on what evidence, and with which conditions attached to continuing.
The deliverable
What it is
A gate that leaves no record has to be reconstructed from memory when the project succeeds or fails. The record lets the organisation check, afterwards, whether its gates are deciding well.
It also protects the gatekeepers. A kill decision taken against written criteria on written evidence is easier to defend than one that looks like a preference.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
Decision
The outcome of the gate — go, kill, hold or recycle — with the date and the role of whoever made the call.
3 attributes: Decision · Decided on · Decided by
LearnEvidence considered
The test results and deliverables the gate looked at, and how much confidence the gatekeepers placed in them.
2 attributes: Evidence · Confidence
LearnConditions
Anything the project must do or show by a date for the decision to stand, with the consequence if it does not.
Learn
Review the gate record once a year against what happened to each project. It shows whether the criteria predict anything.
The other components in pipeline and gates
Stage map
The stages every idea passes through on its way to operation, what each stage is meant to establish, and what it hands on.
LearnGate criteria
The must-meet and kill criteria for each gate, together with any scoring scale, written down before any project reaches it.
LearnPipeline register
Every live innovation bet in one list: its stage, its sponsor, what it holds in people and money, and how long it has waited.
Learn