CHAPTER 7 - PROTOCOL 6

Persist, Adapt, or Stop

TIME60-75 minutes

OWNERPrincipal and representative decision team

ARTIFACTPersist-adapt-stop decision record + next evidence cycle

SUCCESS CRITERIA

The decision is grounded in multiple evidence sources rather than momentum or preference.
The team distinguishes weak implementation from a weak theory of action.
Capacity, equity, trust, and opportunity costs are considered alongside results.
The decision includes ownership, communication, safeguards, and a return date.

IMPLEMENTATION STEPS

Re-anchor in purpose

Restate the enduring purpose, intended benefit, assumptions, and nonnegotiable obligations behind the work.

Read the returned evidence

Study implementation, experience, capability, results, variation, cost, and unintended effects across groups.

Test the three choices

Make the strongest evidence-based case for persisting, adapting, and stopping before selecting a direction.

Decide and design the return

Record the decision, rationale, ownership, communication, resource shift, safeguards, evidence, and next review date.

WORKING ORGANIZER

Run the protocol.

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01Re-anchor in purposeRestate the enduring purpose, intended benefit, assumptions, and nonnegotiable obligations behind the work.What was this work meant to make possible, and does that purpose still matter?02Read the returned evidenceStudy implementation, experience, capability, results, variation, cost, and unintended effects across groups.What is the evidence telling us—not just about outcomes, but about how the work is functioning?03Test the three choicesMake the strongest evidence-based case for persisting, adapting, and stopping before selecting a direction.What would justify each choice, and what risk accompanies it?04Decide and design the returnRecord the decision, rationale, ownership, communication, resource shift, safeguards, evidence, and next review date.What happens next, who must understand it, and when will we revisit the decision?

Evidence to bring backReturn date

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REFLECTION PROMPTS

Are we persisting because the work is sound or because stopping feels costly?
What would adaptation preserve, and what must it genuinely change?
Who benefits or bears the cost under each choice?

EQUITY GUARDRAILS

Do not stop legally required, safety-critical, or equity-protecting work without an approved replacement and transition plan.
Do not label predictable system barriers as individual resistance or implementation failure.
Include people carrying and experiencing the work, and communicate decisions without blame or false certainty.