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Book Exercise Lanes

This module's exercise system is artifact-driven, not problem-set-driven. Use these lanes when you have completed the concept and practice pages but want extra volume on a specific failure mode.

How To Use This Page

  1. Finish the relevant concept page first.
  2. Produce the artifact the concept ends with (an ADR, a critique, a fitness function, etc.).
  3. Only then open the matching exercise lane.
  4. Keep a mistake log with tags such as thin context, missing consequences, decisions without consequences, in-place amendment abuse, ADR bureaucracy, undersized participant list, judgment before curiosity, fitness function without exemption, drift not caught.

Lane 1: ADR Writing Volume

Use this lane when the issue is writing clear ADRs, especially Context and Consequences.

Target outcomes:

  • 8 full ADRs (Nygard, MADR, and Y-statement mix) for real decisions
  • 5 written critiques of others' ADRs with rewrites of the weakest section
  • 3 retrospective ADRs for implicit decisions in your system
  • 2 explicit "no ADR needed because ..." memos on borderline cases

Lane 2: Review Facilitation Volume

Use this lane when the issue is running reviews that end with a decision and captured risks.

Target outcomes:

  • 4 review packages prepared end-to-end (pre-read + participants + agenda)
  • 4 reviews facilitated with curiosity / judgment separation; each ends with an ADR in Accepted or Rejected state
  • 2 retrospectives of your own facilitation, naming specific points where you missed the phase transition
  • 2 reviews where you deliberately played reviewer and gave at least 3 substantive comments

Lane 3: Risk and Method Selection Volume

Use this lane when the issue is picking the right review weight for the risk.

Target outcomes:

  • 6 risk tables for upcoming or recent changes, with likelihood x impact scores
  • 3 review-method-selection memos ("for this change we will do lightweight peer review because...")
  • 2 utility tree sketches with at least 3 scenarios each
  • 1 written "we chose not to review" justification for a low-risk change

Lane 4: Fitness Functions and Drift Volume

Use this lane when the issue is keeping decisions honest over time.

Target outcomes:

  • 3 fitness functions implemented and running in CI against a real codebase
  • 1 claim explicitly identified as "cannot yet be automated," with a one-page justification
  • 1 drift audit of at least 3 ADRs, with findings categorized as context drift vs implementation drift
  • 1 superseded ADR pair with correct bi-directional links

Self-Curated Exercise Set

Build a custom set with these minimums:

  • 5 ADRs written in three templates combined
  • 5 ADR critiques with rewrites
  • 3 reviews facilitated with all outputs captured
  • 3 fitness functions designed; at least 1 shipped to CI
  • 2 drift audits
  • 2 supersede-pair constructions

Completion Checklist

  • Completed at least one lane in full
  • Logged at least 10 mistakes with tags
  • Written at least 3 ADRs that survived peer review unchanged in structure
  • Facilitated at least 2 reviews that ended with a decision on the page
  • Shipped at least 1 fitness function to CI
  • Performed at least 1 drift audit and superseded at least 1 ADR as a result