Strategy Engine · plain-English guide
How to read Planning Cycle
Planning Cycle quarterly operating loop. This guide explains what it produces, what each part means, and how it stays honest — so you can act on the output with confidence.
Takes
Prior targets + actuals + proposed goals
Gives
Retrospective + focus areas
The data it uses: Last quarter's targets and actuals, plus context.
Watch how it works
How to read the output
Retrospective
Target by target: what was set, what happened, the result, and the lesson.
Focus areas
2-4 priorities for next quarter — each must trace to a real target.
Carry over / drop
What continues and what gets killed.
The terms it uses
- Trace gate
- A focus area with no target behind it is a wish, not a plan.
- Focus cap
- Four priorities maximum. A quarter with eight has none.
How it stays honest
Every agent separates what it measured from your data from what it inferred. You always know which is which.
Measured
- ✓Targets + actuals
- ✓Result classification + scorecard (computed)
- ✓Focus cap (computed)
Inferred
- ~Lessons
- ~Focus areas
- ~Carryover / drop
Questions people ask
Why cap the focus areas?+
Because attention is the constraint. The cap forces the hard choice the plan is for.
Now read the real thing.
Run Planning Cycle on your own data and compare the output to this guide. If it matches, you can trust it.