# The Turning Point — Debrief

> You didn't relitigate the project. You pinned it to a line with dated turns and named causes — and a lesson with a cause behind it can be kept or killed on purpose.
> Use with `the-turning-point-guide.md`. The two commitments at minute 18 are the compressed version; this sheet is the full one.

## How to run this debrief

- Talk with the whole line **visible** — the map, not anyone's memory of it, is what you are debriefing.
- Accept only decisions and habits as causes. "It just got hard" gets one polite push-back: what made it hard?
- Close on the keep card and the kill card, each with an owner and a date — the lesson is those two cards, not the conversation.

## Read the shape of the line

1. **Whether the map agrees with memory.** Step back: does the project's story match how you *remember* it, or does the line disagree? The disagreement is the finding.
2. **Whether the turns cluster.** Up-turns and down-turns packed into one period usually point at a single cause, not many.
3. **Which down-turn nobody marked.** If a turn is missing because naming it is uncomfortable, that's the one worth looking at.

## The four debrief questions

- For the biggest down-turn: was the cause a one-time decision, or a habit that kept making the same call?
- For the best up-turn: could you reproduce it on purpose, or was it luck wearing a decision's clothes?
- Which turning point surprised you — the one someone else marked that you didn't even notice happening?
- For the habit you're keeping: what will help it survive the next busy sprint? For the one you're killing: what fills the space it leaves?

## Failure modes of the debrief

| Failure mode | Why it happens | The rescue |
|---|---|---|
| The timeline is all outcomes | People recall results, not events | Prompt for dated moments — "the week we shipped," "the day they changed their mind." |
| Every cause is external | "The market," "the budget" | Push back gently: what did you do or not do in response? You only keep or kill what was in your hands. |
| The down-turn stays unnamed | A person's decision is on the wall | Reframe from blame to mechanism: what did that decision make possible at the time? |
| The lessons don't survive | Commitments are too big | Shrink keep and kill to habits that fit one sprint, with a named check-in date. |