Short term goals · Milestones · Component
Completion criteria
What has to be true to pass each milestone, agreed and recorded before the work begins.
The deliverable
What it is
Criteria agreed at the checkpoint itself will be adjusted, unconsciously, to fit whatever has been achieved. Writing them in advance is the entire mechanism.
They also make the milestone delegable. Someone who was not in the original discussion can tell whether it has been reached.
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.
The confirmation
Who confirms the criteria were met, and how.
2 attributes: Confirmed by · Method
LearnExceptions
Criteria waived at the checkpoint, with the reason.
3 attributes: Criterion · Justification · Waived by
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Write the criteria before the work starts. Criteria agreed at the gate will be shaped, unconsciously, by what has already been achieved.
The other components in milestones
The milestone schedule
The dated checkpoints across a piece of work, placed against what each one resolves rather than at even intervals.
LearnThe go / no-go record
The decision taken at each checkpoint and the reasoning behind it — the only way to tell later whether a project failed or was allowed to continue too long.
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