A decision nobody currently stands behind.
A decision in your plan guides work only while people stand behind it. Helen flags a decision when nobody has signed off on its current version, or when nobody has confirmed lately that it still holds. The check is called Review Cadence Breach.
- How it works
- Rule-based, with a fixed cadence by type
- Where it stops
- Tickets, drafts, closed records, and archived records never raise this flag. The cadence is a fixed number of days per type, and it applies only to your mission, vision, domain model, strategy, and goals.
What the check catches.
Helen's Foundry keeps the line from your strategy down to each piece of work as linked records. In the product, this line is called the context chain.
A person's sign-off on the current version of a record is called ratification. A later check by a person that a ratified version still holds is called validation. Both cover the record's title, description, and content, so after an edit to any of them, the earlier sign-off covers an older version.
The check looks at every committed record except tickets: your mission, vision, domain model, strategy, goals, personas, problems, and projects. Committed means anything that is not a draft, closed, or archived. Helen raises the flag when nobody has ratified the current version, or when its validation is missing, outdated by an edit, or overdue.
Validation runs on a fixed cadence by type. A mission, vision, or domain model needs it every 180 days, and a strategy or goal every 90 days. A version that was ratified but never validated counts from the day it was ratified. Personas, problems, and projects need ratification only.
What Helen records.
When a check finds a problem, Helen raises a flag. In the product, this flag is called a finding. Each Review Cadence Breach finding records the decision, what it is missing, and what rests on it.
- The decision Its title and its type.
- What it is missing Ratification or validation, and why: never done, outdated by an edit, or overdue. For validation, the days since the last validation or ratification, and the cadence for its type.
- What rests on it Whether work below it is in progress, a ticket below it is ready to start, or an open pull request is linked to work below it, and how many levels sit above it.
What a person does about it.
The flag goes to Reconcile, the place where a person decides what to do about a flag. These flags have their own category there, called Needs ratification or validation. In the default view, decisions that other work depends on come first, then the ones nearest the top of your plan.
When nobody has ratified the current version, Reconcile links to the decision's page, where a workspace admin reviews and ratifies it. Only a person signed in to Helen's Foundry can ratify, and each decision is ratified on its own, with no bulk action.
When the version is ratified and only validation is missing or overdue, a workspace admin can renew validation from the row. Renewing confirms the decision is still true. If it is not, edit it instead.
Helen does not label this flag as blocking. After a person ratifies or renews, the flag clears the next time Helen runs the check. It does not clear just because nobody touches the decision. Helen never changes a decision on her own.
Research basis.
Argote, L., Beckman, S. L., & Epple, D. (1990). The persistence and transfer of learning in industrial settings. Management Science, 36(2), 140–154.
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