Calibration
Under, just right, over.
| Situation | Under | Just Right | Over |
|---|---|---|---|
| A thread that needs a decision | Lets the thread sit. People keep adding comments instead of making a call. | Names the decision, picks a reversible option with the information already in the thread, and writes what would change it. | Closes the thread with a snap call that ignores a constraint already written there. The team spends the rest of the week undoing the work. |
| Another round of research | Starts more research when the open questions would not change this week's action. | Stops the research once it will not move the decision, starts the reversible work, and leaves a note on what is still unknown. | Skips the afternoon of research that would have answered the one real risk. Someone else inherits the miss. |
| Unblocking yourself | Waits for the owner to return before touching work that is stuck. The week goes idle. | Tries a cheap path that can be reversed, and tells the owner what they did. | Forces a path the owner had already ruled out. The owner spends their first day back cleaning it up. |
| The plan breaks midweek | Freezes until a new plan is approved. The remaining days are spent waiting. | Picks a next step that keeps learning cheap, and updates the people who were on the old path. | Scraps the plan and starts a new one the same day without checking who is already midstream. Their work no longer connects. |
| One more review before acting | Adds another review because it feels safer. The action waits for a slot that is not this week. | Takes the review that would catch a hard to reverse miss, and skips the rest so the work can start. | Skips the review that was going to catch a known risk. The people who would have flagged it find out after the cost is real. |
| A choice that can be undone | Treats a reversible choice like a strategy decision. Days go to alignment the choice does not need. | Picks one, starts, and watches. Changes it if the first days show it is wrong. | Flips the choice twice in one week. People stop trusting the direction and redo work each time. |
| Work that is ready enough to share | Holds the draft until it is polished. Reviewers have nothing to react to this week. | Shares the rough version early enough that feedback can still change it, and says what is still unfinished. | Sends half formed work to a wide list so it looks like progress. People spend time commenting on parts they already knew were wrong. |
| A small fix in front of you | Files it for later and lives with the friction for the rest of the week. | Fixes the reversible part now, and leaves a note if a larger change still needs a decision. | Reworks the surrounding process in the same sitting. People who used the old path are surprised and lose time. |