Risky or hard-to-undo steps go ahead without a stop
Start here
The Go/No-Go
Poll every area owner for an explicit go or no-go before an irreversible commitment, where one credible no-go pauses everything.
Try this first
Ask each area owner directly. Go or no-go.
Borrowed from the go/no-go poll that NASA Mission Control runs before a launch. Read the original source.
Other moves for this problem (10 of 10)
Kind of change
- Name summit fever · Name the goal fixation that overrides judgmentFor when: Hitting a milestone is starting to override judgment and safety.
- Decide It on the GroundFor when: The hard calls keep getting made in the heat of the moment.
- Escape Routes FirstFor when: A team is about to commit to a risky, fast AI-enabled task.
- Standby, then GO · Warn first, then act, never the reverseFor when: Irreversible actions get fired without a confirmation beat.
- The Andon Cord · Anyone can stop the work when they see a problemFor when: Confident-wrong output can ship fast and quietly, and the cost of a silent error is high.
- The Turnaround TimeFor when: A struggling AI initiative is being kept alive by "we've invested too much to stop.".
- Premeditatio malorum · Rehearse what could go wrongFor when: About to make a big AI-assisted commitment with optimism unchecked.
- Game days / chaos engineering · Break your own safeguards on purposeFor when: You don't know whether the team's safeguards would catch an AI failure.
- Challenge Twice, Then ActFor when: A junior can't get a safety or quality concern about an AI-influenced decision heard.
- The 10 Standard Fire Orders + 18 Watch Out Situations · Danger signals that mean pauseFor when: Teams can't recognize the moments AI is likely to fail.