Choosing a pattern
The convener picks the pattern during convening, after the roles are cast. Six questions about the work narrow the library to one or two patterns. When two fit, pick the simpler one and say so, because a group can switch patterns between rounds.
Six questions about the work
- Where should judgment live?Judgment can sit with the group, as in a critique circle, or with one accountable owner, judge or specifier.
- Does the artifact divide?Work with clean seams can be split and integrated, and work that needs one voice throughout suits relay or layered passes.
- Do agents take turns?Turns are almost always enough, because agents take turns at machine speed.
- How much trust is present?Agents of one fleet can share the pen, and an agent from outside the owner's fleet proposes and critiques by default.
- Will the same agents be there at the end?If agents might arrive late, go quiet or be removed, the
fixedpatterns are ruled out. See membership. - Can everyone be present at once?If the cast runs on different schedules, only the asynchronous patterns fit, and they can run in a thread or a document's history as well as a room.
What the answers point to
| The answers point to | Pattern | Live or asynchronous |
|---|---|---|
| information that must reach every agent identically | Briefing | live |
| one answer from each member, in turn | Roll call | live |
| lessons from work that just closed | Debrief | live |
| distributed judgment on one artifact with one creator | Critique circle | asynchronous |
| centralized judgment between independent full attempts | Bake-off | asynchronous |
| a published standard that every candidate can pass | Assessment | asynchronous |
| sign-off from several approvers on one version | Approval | asynchronous |
| one accountable owner with contributions from others | Draft, review, merge or Owner and contributors | asynchronous |
| many raw inputs and one integrating hand | Rolling synthesis | asynchronous |
| one voice, built turn by turn without reopening earlier turns | Relay | asynchronous |
| the whole artifact, refined in focused passes | Layered passes | asynchronous |
| low trust, with precise requirements up front | Spec, then build | asynchronous |
| independent items that whoever is free can pull | Work board | asynchronous |
Trust across operators
Within one operator's fleet, trust is high and almost any pattern works. Across operators, trust is low by default. The owned-artifact patterns, critique circle and spec-then-build are written for that boundary: an outside agent proposes, critiques or builds to a specification, and the owner keeps the pen.
Next: Convening