Mission Artifact: The "Unfiltered Assessment" (1-Pager)

You cannot fix a problem you cannot see. Standard project status reports are designed to hide risk. This template is designed to expose it.

This is the tool your Vanguard Cohort (Generalizing Specialists) will use for their first mission. It forces them to strip away the "Green" shading and answer binary questions based on your OSSICPOET™ and MISSION™ frameworks.

Instructions for the Cohort: "Do not ask the Project Manager for their status slides. Walk the floor. Talk to the developers. Talk to the users. Then fill this out. You have 1 page."

CONFIDENTIAL // VANGUARD ASSESSMENT

Project Name: _____________________ | Reviewer: _____________________ | Date: __________

SECTION 1: THE TRUST TEST (The "Gut Check")

Based on the MISSION™ Protocol

The Question: Look around the project room. Would you go into a potentially career-threatening battle with the people sitting at this table?

[ ] YES (Resounding confidence) [ ] NO (Hesitation, incompetence, or toxic culture)

If NO: Stop here. The project is already failing, regardless of the Gantt chart. Proceed to "Verdict."

SECTION 2: THE GOVERNANCE GATE (OSSICPOET™ Audit)

Binary Assessment: There is no "Amber." It is either True (Pass) or False (Fail).

Pillar The "Vital Few" Check Pass / Fail
Outcome Can the team articulate the specific business value in 30 seconds? [ ] P [ ] F
Sponsor Does the Sponsor have "skin in the game" and make timely decisions? [ ] P [ ] F
Solution Is the scope focused on the "Vital Few" (no complexity/bloat)? [ ] P [ ] F
Investment Does the business case meet the mandatory ROI threshold? [ ] P [ ] F
Communication Is bad news reported instantly? (Is there a "Safe Haven" culture?) [ ] P [ ] F
Plan Is the roadmap fact-based, with releases spaced under 3 months apart? [ ] P [ ] F
Organization Do we have the talent and bandwidth to execute? [ ] P [ ] F
Execution Are ETCs (Estimates to Complete) rigorous and realistic? [ ] P [ ] F
Technology Does it meet standards to minimize Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)? [ ] P [ ] F

SECTION 3: THE UNVARNISHED TRUTH (Narrative)

Do not paste status updates. List the top 3 structural risks that no one is talking about.

  1. The "Silent" Killer: (e.g., "The Sponsor hasn't attended a meeting in 6 weeks.")
  2. The Technical Debt: (e.g., "The team is bypassing security protocols to meet the deadline.")
  3. The Reality Gap: (e.g., "They report 'Green,' but no code has been shipped in 4 months.")

SECTION 4: THE VERDICT

Recommendation to the Executive Committee:

[ ] CONTINUE: The project is healthy. Proceed as planned. [ ] SURGERY REQUIRED: The outcome is valid, but the execution/team is flawed. Pause to restructure. [ ] KILL: The hypothesis is wrong, or the "Vital Few" pillars (Outcome/Sponsor) are broken. Redeploy capital immediately.

Why This Format Works

  1. Binary Constraint: By forcing a "Pass/Fail" on the OSSICPOET™ pillars, you remove the "Watermelon" effect (Green on the outside, Red on the inside). There is no place to hide "Amber."
  2. The Trust Test Anchor: Placing the "Battle" question first frames the entire review through the lens of High Character and Confidence, which are often better predictors of success than spreadsheets.
  3. One Page: This forces the "Agile Thinker" to synthesize complexity into executive decision data. If they can't fit it on one page, they don't understand the problem.

Final Step: You now have the complete transformation engine. The only thing left is to execute. Schedule a checkpoint in 30 days to review the first batch of these assessments.