A named sponsor with decision authority
One accountable individual who can confirm the decision question, resolve access blockages and receive escalation. Without this the phase stalls in week two.
Mandate opening
What the first thirty days actually produce.
The opening phase exists to establish what is actually being decided, who may decide it, what evidence exists, and what stands in the way of a defensible answer. It is bounded and it ends with a decision point, including the decision not to continue.
The phase
- 01Authority and decision definition
- 02Evidence intake and provenance
- 03Contradiction register
- 04Stakeholder and constraint mapping
- 05Initial decision record
- 06Unresolved-risk memorandum
- 07Checkpoint
01The phase
Seven stages, each ending in something written
Duration
Approximately thirty days from mobilisation. Where a decision deadline is shorter, the phase is compressed and the compression is recorded as a limitation on the record it produces.
- 01
Days 1–5
Authority and decision definition
The decision is written down as a single answerable question, with the alternatives it is being chosen between. Decision rights, the sponsor, the approving body and the point of no return are confirmed in writing. Ambiguity here is the most common cause of unusable work later.
Produces
Decision statement and authority map, confirmed by the sponsor.
- 02
Days 1–12
Evidence intake and provenance
Everything the organisation already holds is taken in and registered with its source, date and interest. Nothing is accepted as background. An information request list identifies what is missing and who must supply it.
Produces
Evidence register with provenance and an outstanding-information list.
- 03
Days 6–20
Contradiction register
Conflicts between sources are surfaced and classified rather than smoothed over: resolved on evidence, resolved as definitional, unresolved and material, unresolved and immaterial, or escalated.
Produces
Contradiction register with a disposition against each entry.
- 04
Days 8–22
Stakeholder and constraint mapping
The parties whose consent, capability or inaction determines the outcome are identified, along with the institutional, operational, regulatory and payment constraints the plan depends on but has not tested.
Produces
Stakeholder and dependency map with the constraints each imposes.
- 05
Days 18–28
Initial decision record
The basis is assembled: what is established, what is corroborated, what is indicative, what is contested and what remains unknown, with the reasoning that connects evidence to a position.
Produces
Initial decision record with graded findings and stated assumptions.
- 06
Days 22–30
Unresolved-risk memorandum
A separate, deliberately unflattering document setting out what could not be established, what would change the answer, and what the organisation would be accepting if it proceeded anyway.
Produces
Unresolved-risk memorandum, written to survive later scrutiny.
- 07
Day 30
Checkpoint with the client
A working session with the sponsor and decision-makers. Three outcomes are legitimate: proceed to decision on the basis established, continue examination against a defined gap, or stop. Stopping is a valid conclusion and is recorded as one.
Produces
Checkpoint record with the agreed disposition and any decision conditions.
02What the client supplies
The phase depends on access, not on goodwill
These requirements are stated before engagement because a mandate that cannot obtain them produces a weaker record, and the record says so.
Access to the material that already exists
Papers, models, board material, correspondence, agreements and prior advice — including the parts that are unflattering or superseded. Withheld material becomes an unresolved risk in the memorandum.
Introductions to internal holders of knowledge
Typically four to eight attributable conversations across commercial, operational, finance and legal functions. These are recorded as attributed representations, not anonymous colour.
Sponsor time at three points
Definition at the outset, a mid-phase contradiction review, and the day-30 checkpoint. Each is a working session, not a presentation.
Permission to approach external sources where required
Counterparty, regulator or third-party enquiry is agreed in advance, including whether the mandate is disclosed. Sensitivity constraints are recorded, and their effect on what can be verified is stated.
03What the firm commits
How the phase is resourced and governed
Senior-led throughout
The accountable principal conducts the examination and signs the record. The phase is not staffed to a junior tier and reviewed at the end.
Written, not presented
Output is a governed record with provenance intact, not a slide deck. Sessions discuss the record; they do not replace it.
Conflicts cleared before mobilisation
Conflict and independence checks are completed before the phase starts, and any position that would compromise the work is disclosed or the mandate is declined.
Commercial terms fixed in advance
Scope, duration, deliverables and fees are agreed in the engagement terms before work begins. They are mandate-specific and are not published as packages or list prices.
On commercial terms
Scope, duration and fees are agreed in the engagement terms for the specific mandate. They are not published as packages or list prices, because a published price implies a standardised scope the firm does not offer.
04Where the phase stops
Boundaries
What the opening phase does not promise
- The phase produces a defensible basis for a decision. It does not promise a favourable finding, a completed transaction or a resolved uncertainty.
- Some questions will end the phase unresolved. Where that happens it is stated plainly, with what would resolve it and what it costs to find out.
- It is not legal, regulatory, tax, audit or forensic work. Those matters are referred to qualified advisers with the evidence intact.
- Continuation beyond the opening phase is a separate decision, taken at the checkpoint on the evidence the phase produced.
The format of the record this phase produces is illustrated by the synthetic specimen decision record, and the standard governing how its findings are graded is the Evidence Standard.
Next decision
Before you commit, you can see exactly what the first phase yields.
An opening conversation establishes the decision in question, the access available and whether this phase is the right instrument for it.