3. Performance Management
The Audacity Licence
Three gates before any stretch goal
Where a collective agreement applies, it governs. Check the agreement before applying any of this.
Use when
A team wants, or is being handed, an audacious target
- 1
Gate 1: recent win
The team finished something genuinely hard in the last two quarters.
- 2
Gate 2: protected slack
A stated share of capacity is unallocated, in writing, and survives urgent requests.
- 3
Gate 3: decoupled
No tie to individual ratings, pay, or ranking. Team recognition only.
“Fail a gate: hard-but-attainable goal instead.”
How to use it
Every licence carries a written stop-doing clause: the stretch goal buys capacity from somewhere named. Refusals are recorded in writing, and a refusal rate of zero means the gates are decoration.
Card details
- Model type
- Sequence
- Origin status
- Original
- Content last reviewed
- 28 July 2026
Origin
OriginalHarsimran Kaur Kapoor, 2026. Built on the Sitkin stretch-goal contingency finding.