Module 5: Technical Leadership & Strategy: Mistake Clinic

This clinic turns wrong moves into reusable judgment. Use it after each practice page and again before the quiz or checkpoint.

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Module-Specific Mistake Radar

Start with these traps. Replace or extend them with real mistakes from your own work.

Mistake to look for	Where it shows up	Symptom	Repair evidence
Finishing Strategy Memo Lab with only a final answer	Strategy Memo Lab	The work has no failed case, trace, test, proof gap, or design stress point.	Add the smallest broken example and show the repair that changes the result.
Finishing Design Review Workshop with only a final answer	Design Review Workshop	The work has no failed case, trace, test, proof gap, or design stress point.	Add the smallest broken example and show the repair that changes the result.
Finishing Stakeholder Influence Clinic with only a final answer	Stakeholder Influence Clinic	The work has no failed case, trace, test, proof gap, or design stress point.	Add the smallest broken example and show the repair that changes the result.
Finishing Leadership Katas with only a final answer	Leadership Katas	The work has no failed case, trace, test, proof gap, or design stress point.	Add the smallest broken example and show the repair that changes the result.
Treating Four Staff-Engineer Archetypes as vocabulary instead of a tool	Four Staff-Engineer Archetypes	The explanation names the concept but cannot decide between two cases.	Write one example, one non-example, and the rule that separates them.
Treating Working at the Right Altitude as vocabulary instead of a tool	Working at the Right Altitude	The explanation names the concept but cannot decide between two cases.	Write one example, one non-example, and the rule that separates them.

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Practice Mistake Checks

Pull any miss from these checks into your mistake log.

Strategy Memo Lab

Source: practice/01-strategy-memo-lab.md

Identify what is wrong with each of these strategy excerpts:

1. "Diagnosis: Our platform team has too much work." (symptom, not a diagnosis)
2. "Guiding policy: We will be customer-obsessed." (slogan - rules out nothing)
3. "Coherent actions: Invest in documentation, improve testing, increase velocity, and raise quality." (wish list with no policy backing)
4. "Tradeoffs: This strategy improves quality, reduces risk, increases velocity, and reduces cost." (all positive - not tradeoffs)
5. "Anti-scope: This strategy does not cover HR policy." (plausibility test fails - nobody would think it did)

Design Review Workshop

Source: practice/02-design-review-workshop.md

In each excerpt, identify the review anti-pattern:

1. "This won't scale." (judgment with no behavior or impact)
2. "Why not just use Kafka?" (disguised judgment posing as curiosity)
3. "LGTM, looks great overall, let's ship." (no decision section; no actions)
4. "I have 37 comments." (reviewer load pushed to author; no prioritization)
5. "Can we discuss this in a meeting?" (review escalated to synchronous without written preparation)

Stakeholder Influence Clinic

Source: practice/03-stakeholder-influence-clinic.md

Identify the error:

1. "My stakeholder list has 25 people on it." (too many; scope will be dragged)
2. "Two people are Accountable - my manager and their peer." (ambiguous accountability; nothing ships)
3. "I told them about the decision after I made it." (informed-as-consultation error)
4. "I disagree with the decision and I'll do the minimum required." (silent sabotage; not commit)
5. "My escalation says 'we have a problem, please help.'" (no proposed decision; manager has to do the thinking)

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Repair Protocol

For each real mistake:

1. Reproduce the failure on the smallest example, trace, proof, query, command, or design sketch.
2. Name the hidden assumption.
3. Repair the artifact.
4. Save evidence that changed: failing then passing test, corrected proof step, revised diagram, safer command, benchmark, or review note.
5. Add one retrieval card beginning with Check... before... or Do not use... when....

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Mistake Log

Date	Mistake	Symptom	Root cause	Repair evidence	Retrieval card
Starter	Pick one radar row above	Explain how it would fail in this module	Name the assumption	Add a counterexample or corrected artifact	Write the card before closing the page

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Completion Standard

• At least five real mistakes are logged.
• At least two mistakes include a counterexample or failing test.
• At least one mistake connects to an older semester skill.
• At least one correction changes code, a proof, a diagram, a command transcript, a query, or a design decision.