What you will learn Not a chapter to read but one to do. Take one of your own outputs and write the conditions under which it could ship without a human looking. Whatever you cannot write down is exactly why a human is still attached.
Write down everything the reviewer actually checks with their eyes. Including "skims it."
| # | What they check | Why | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 |
Mark any row whose "why" is blank. It may be the scar of an old incident, or it may be habit nobody can account for.
Sort each row by who can decide it.
| Class | Test | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| A machine decides | the answer is true or false | totals, required fields, format, dead links |
| A machine flags | it can raise a suspicion | odd tone, unusual values, banned words |
| Only a person | needs context and accountability | is this the right thing to say right now |
That second line is the common outcome. On the first pass, almost everything lands in "only a person." Split them once more — "is this document right" needs a person, but "does the amount match the table" inside it does not.
Lay them out in the order from automatic validation.
| Gate | What it checks | On failure |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 |
Without the second, it is not a gate — it is a log. If failing changes nothing, nobody reads it.
One last question.
| Answer | What it means |
|---|---|
| Minutes | you can afford loose gates. Ship fast and fix |
| Hours | the design above is about right |
| It cannot be undone | gate 3 with a person is mandatory |
The cost of undoing sets the thickness of the gates. Thick gates on cheap-to-undo work only cost you speed; thin gates on irreversible work produce an incident eventually.
If the second failed, go back to step 2 and split further. A lot of "only a person" does not mean validation is hard — it means you have not split it yet.
1. What do you do when "only a person" is more than half the rows?
Split the rows further. "Is the document right" needs a person, but "does the amount match the table" inside it does not. Left whole, all of it stays with the human.
2. What happens if a gate does not say what failure does?
It becomes a log, not a gate. If failing changes nothing, nobody looks at it, and you end up with checks that run and no control.
3. What sets the thickness of a gate?
The cost of undoing. If it can be undone in minutes, loosen the gates and ship faster. If it cannot be undone, a human gate is mandatory.
Pass validation and it ships → Process 4 — immediate delivery
HyperTeams□ 40 minutes□ One output that actually goes outside · a code deploy, a document that reaches a customer, an external post□ One person who reviews it today□ Paper or a spreadsheetHow to write it: "checks the quality" ✗ -> write what tells them the quality is bad "checks the numbers add up" ✓ "checks it sounds like us" ✓□ Every row from step 1 is in one of the three□ If "only a person" is more than half -> do step 2 againGate 1 (machine, seconds) : fails -> nothing proceeds at allGate 2 (machine, minutes) : fails -> flagged for a personGate 3 (person, as needed) : only what gate 2 flagged□ Is the pass condition written in one line?□ What happens on failure (halt? flag? roll back?)□ Who gets told□ If it passed every gate and still went out wrong, how long to undo it?□ You wrote what the reviewer checks, with the reason□ "Only a person" came down to half or less□ Every gate says what happens on failure□ You actually answered the time-to-undo question