Set the gates
Build the gate-by-gate accountability for the slice so each gate has exactly one accountable owner, and state what happens at Release that does not happen at Judge.
Gate register
One accountable owner, many responsible hands
No gate has two accountable owners, and Release is not folded into Judge.
Supplied engagementMeridian Payments · Idempotent refund submissionheadless sliceStages 6 and 7 leave the fixture and use an engagement you run yourself.
Why this stage exists
A shared RACI collapses when two people are accountable for the same gate, or when acceptance and promotion are treated as one event.
The supplied engagement has no scheduled release decision. Stage 2 is where that becomes visible.
What you start from
Work from these inputs only. Anything not on this list is either a later stage’s concern or a decision you do not own.
- Accountability register
- Your completed assignment from stage 1.
- The gate matrix
- Section 03 of the operating process, 14 gates across 11 roles.
- The slice
- One headless feature, so the design gate does not arise.
One accountable owner, many responsible hands
One worked pass, so the shape of the work is visible before you do it on your own.
- Walk the gates in order and mark the single accountable owner for each.
- Add responsible, consulted and informed from the register, not from the org chart.
- Separate Judge from Release and give each its own owner.
- Mark the gates that do not arise for a headless slice.
What this turns onAccountable means one owner. Where two names appear, one of them is responsible or consulted, and saying which is the work.
Do the work
- Complete the gate register for the supplied slice.
- Write the Release row in full: who integrates, who promotes, and what evidence each needs.
- Find the gate where the vacancy from stage 1 first bites.
- Challenge another pair’s consulted column. Consultation before a gate is not the same as being told afterwards.
You produce
Gate register
- Gate
- Accountable
- Responsible
- Consulted
- Informed
- Does not arise because
Challenge your own result
Engineering is accountable at Release. Does that mean engineering ships to production?
Show how this resolves
No. Engineering integrates to main. The client release authority authorizes canary and production promotion as a separate decision taken after acceptance. Two decisions, two owners, two records.
Ready to continue when
- No gate has two accountable owners.
- Release and Judge are separate rows with separate owners.
- Gates that do not arise are marked with the reason.
What transfersAny delivery method can be audited by asking which gate has two owners and which decision has none.
Source · 03 Accountability