TL;DR
A stage gate only governs when it can redirect, pause, or stop work.
What the paper develops
A stage gate that can only acknowledge progress is a reporting meeting, not a governance control. This paper restores the connection between the gate and a consequential decision: advance, redirect, narrow, pause, or stop. It shows how evidence requirements, decision authority, and explicit consequences keep gates proportionate while preventing weak commitments from becoming inevitable through momentum.
The operating move
Give each gate real authority to redirect, pause, or stop work, then specify the evidence required for the next commitment. A review without a consequential decision is only a meeting.
OWNEREVIDENCENEXT COMMITMENT
Inside the white paper
- Decision authority and consequences behind each gate
- Evidence requirements tied to the next commitment rather than a generic checklist
- Proportionate routes to advance, redirect, narrow, pause, or stop