Step 5
The Strategic Cycle Roadmap
When do we execute each initiative, how long does each cycle need to be given the deepest Fatal Brake, and how do we allocate resources across time?
Output
Cycled roadmap (FIX → ALIGN → SCALE) with cycle duration flexed to the deepest-F remediation horizon, gates, budgets, and owners; closed by the Strategy on a Page — the strategy stated in words
Activities
| # | Activity |
|---|---|
| 1 | Determine Cycle 1 duration from the Mechanism Map: Cycle 1 length equals the documented remediation horizon of the deepest Fatal Brake. If the deepest F is a 4-month remediation, Cycle 1 is 4 months (the v4.0 default); if 9 months, Cycle 1 is 9 months. Document the cycle duration and its anchor explicitly. With no Fatal Brake row in the Map (including an empty Map, MA-1), Cycle 1 length equals the Step 2 goal horizon |
| 2 | Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 inherit the same length as Cycle 1 by default — total horizons typically fall at 12, 18, 24, 27, or 36 months — adjust only with explicit rationale |
| 3 | Sequence initiatives into the three cycles: F and S initiatives in Cycle 1 (FIX); P and T initiatives in Cycle 2 (ALIGN); GD initiatives running parallel across all cycles |
| 4 | Allocate resources per cycle using the canonical pattern: 80/10/10 (FIX/ALIGN/Growth Drivers) → 20/60/20 → 10/30/60. applied to the re-allocatable share of the run-rate; continuing BAU is a fixed line. The pattern is preserved; its base is defined at v5.1 |
| 5 | Apply sequencing rules: 310 (Features) before 440 (Magic) within any cycle; enforce the No-Scale Gate on Fatal Brakes; Validate-Before-Commit initiatives (from Step 4) execute their tests in the first 4–6 weeks of Cycle 1 before graduating to full execution |
| 6 | Define gate exit conditions: Integrity Gate (all F > 0), Relevance Gate (P ≥ +2, T ≥ +1), Efficiency Gate (Step 2 SMART goal achieved). Gate logic is preserved at v5.0 |
| 7 | Assign owners, budgets, and milestones per initiative — if a gate is not passed, the cycle repeats before proceeding |
| 8 | Assemble the Strategy on a Page from the Step 0–5 outputs: where we play, what the market expects, the goal, the posture, what decides success, why the gaps exist, the 3–5 decisions, what changes in the offer, and when |