# Assumption Audit — Debrief

> The plan didn't get safer by feeling confident — it got safer when you named the beliefs holding it up and put a date on checking them.
> Use with `assumption-audit-guide.md`. The read-back at minute 18 is the compressed version; this sheet is the full one.

## How to run this debrief

- Keep the ranked "fragile" shortlist **in view** — the debrief is about those two or three, not the whole wall of cards.
- Push on the ranking: which one really carries the plan? "All equally important" means the ranking didn't happen.
- Land on owner + date for every fragile assumption, and check each date falls before the point of no return.

## Read the board

1. **The tagged counts.** How many Evidence vs To-verify vs Fragile-if-false? A pile of to-verify means you were about to commit on untested ground.
2. **The top fragile ones.** These are the plan's soft spot — not a full risk list, just the two or three it truly rests on.
3. **The surprising ones.** The assumption someone wrote that no one else had thought of — that's the value of the silent first pass.

## The six debrief questions

**1. The invisible belief.**
"Which assumption did everyone quietly believe but nobody had written down or checked?"
→ Targets: the shared blind spot the silent pass exists to surface.

**2. The plan-breaker.**
"If the top fragile one turned out false, what actually changes — the plan, or just the plan of work?"
→ Targets: distinguishing a real pivot from a scheduling adjustment.

**3. The owner and the date.**
"Who owns checking each fragile assumption, and by when? Is that date before the point of no return?"
→ Targets: commitment quality — a check without a date is a wish.

**4. The surprise.**
"What assumption about the work are you glad surfaced, because you'd rather test it than live inside it?"
→ Targets: the relief signal — what the room was carrying without naming.

**5. The ranking fight.**
"Where did the room disagree about which assumption was most fragile — and what did that disagreement tell you?"
→ Targets: the underlying values or risk appetites that the ranking exposed.

**6. The next audit.**
"What's the next plan or milestone that deserves this same twenty-minute pass — and when will you run it?"
→ Targets: transfer — scheduling the habit instead of ending the exercise.

## Failure modes of the debrief

| Failure mode | Why it happens | The rescue |
|---|---|---|
| It reads like paperwork | Everyone just wants to get on | Re-read the top fragile assumption — that's not process, that's the thing that bites. |
| Owners were named but no dates | "We'll look into it" | A check without a date is a wish; give every owner a before-the-decision date. |
| It stops at the list | Surfacing feels like the win | The deliverable is the ranking + who/dates, not the wall of cards. |