Practice a Gate 1 (Value Gate) Decision
| Option | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Proceed to PoV | The charter is good enough to enter IL 201, the Proof-of-Value Co-creation Lab |
| Reframe | The problem direction is workable, but the scope, metrics, or option comparison needs rewriting before resubmission |
| Hold | There is not enough information to decide yet; specific evidence is needed or a specific condition (e.g. a sponsor in place) is pending |
| Stop | Based on current evidence, this problem does not warrant investing the next stage’s resources |
Info
These four options share the same design intent as IL 201’s Evidence Review and IL 301’s Readiness decision dictionaries: "a gate is a versioned decision record" that should be able to answer "on what evidence, by whom, against which version, and what decision." This IL 101 exercise is a classroom simulation only and is never written to the real system.
Work in pairs: one person plays the executive sponsor, the other presents their Project Charter v2 (3-5 minutes). The sponsor then asks follow-up questions such as:
- Is this baseline figure an estimate or validated? Where did the sample come from?
- If the AI gives a wrong answer, who notices first, and what happens then?
- Could this scope become insufficient in six months and need reframing?
- If the Go/No-Go criteria are not met, what will you do?
- Present
In 3-5 minutes, explain the problem, baseline, value hypothesis, and Go/No-Go criteria, without reading every field verbatim. - Question
The sponsor asks the four questions above (or their own); the presenter answers on the spot and notes anything they could not answer. - Decide
After discussing the evidence, agree on one Gate 1 recommendation (proceed / reframe / hold / stop), and write down the basis and limitations, in a Decision Brief-style format (recommendation, basis, limitations, alternatives, owner, review date).
Done
Choosing "reframe" or "hold" is not a failure: a well-evidenced hold or stop recommendation is more valuable to an organization than a sloppy "proceed".
Check yourself
During the simulation, the sponsor raises the concern that "this scope might not be enough in six months," and the presenter agrees the scope does need adjusting. What is the best Gate 1 recommendation?