Fixed-scope diagnostic

The Knowledge Governance
Assessment.

The two briefs make the case for governing institutional knowledge and lay out what implementing it costs. This is the next step: a fixed-scope, fixed-fee diagnostic that scores your system against the same instrument — the seven-question checklist and the say-do ladder — with file- and config-level evidence, not a survey. You leave knowing exactly which rung every governance claim is really on, and the order to close the gaps.

Read the briefs first →
The instrument

The same tools the briefs hand you — run against your build

Nothing here is invented for the engagement. The assessment applies the exact instrument published in the two governed-commons briefs, so every score is auditable against material you already have.

  • The seven-question checklist

    What to look for. The agenda from The Governed Commons — the questions any knowledge network, platform, or internal initiative can be scored against in a single meeting.

  • The say-do ladder

    How to grade the answers. The six-rung scale from The Governed Commons, Implemented. A claim is only true at the rung it can prove — evidence, or it is aspiration.

  • The builder preflight

    The plan. The flip-ceremony checklist from the companion brief — walked against whatever stakes-bearing mechanism is closest to turning on, while the flip is still cheap.

Evidence, or it is aspiration

Every claim is graded on the ladder

“Done” is not a rung. A governance layer sits exactly where its evidence puts it, and no higher. Asking “which rung is your trust layer on?” is what separates a real control from a marketing page — and it is how the assessment scores yours.

  1. 1specified
  2. 2library-built + tested
  3. 3boundary-wired
  4. 4human-surfaced
  5. 5monitored
  6. 6livefully in production, with its monitor
What you get

Four deliverables, not a slide deck

The output is working material your team can act on — scored against evidence, ordered by dependency, and honest about what is not yet enforced.

Evidence-graded scorecard

Every governance claim scored against the seven-question checklist and placed on the say-do ladder — backed by file- and config-level evidence, not a self-assessment survey. You see exactly which rung each layer is really on.

Enforced-only constitution draft

A first draft of the governance rules your system will actually enforce — written so nothing is ratified above the rung it can prove. What is still aspiration stays labeled as aspiration.

Dependency-ordered roadmap

The build order to close the gaps, sequenced by dependency and cost class, so the work that unblocks the most comes first — and every stakes-bearing mechanism is wired before it is turned on.

Stakes-gate memo

A short decision memo for the champion: what is safe to turn on now, what must stay dark until its monitor ships, and the one precondition that separates governing a commons from moderating a feed.

How it is scoped

Fixed scope. Fixed fee. One accountable engineer.

The assessment is a defined deliverable set for a fixed price on a fixed timeline — priced on the outcome, not an open-ended hourly bill. It is delivered direct by a senior engineer who reads the evidence, scores it, and signs the report: no prime-and-sub chain, no discovery template, one accountable point of contact from kickoff to hand-off.

The exact price and timeline depend on the size of the system under review and the depth of evidence required. The next step is a short conversation to scope it — after which you get a written fixed-fee proposal before any work begins.

Where it fits

From reading the briefs to running the commons

The assessment is the bridge between knowing governance matters and operating it. Each step scopes the next.

  1. 1
    Read the briefs

    Why govern institutional knowledge, and what implementing it costs. Vendor-neutral, free.

  2. 2
    Take the assessment

    Score your build against the instrument. Fixed scope, fixed fee, evidence-graded. You are here.

  3. 3
    Run the implementation

    Close the gaps in dependency order — governance fix waves against the roadmap.

  4. 4
    Operate the commons

    Keep it governed as it grows — as a managed private deployment or a selective membership.

Score your governance against the evidence

The next step is a short conversation about the system under review and the depth of evidence you need — then a written fixed-fee proposal. No deck, no discovery template.

See all services →

The briefs: The Governed Commons → · The Governed Commons, Implemented →