Copyright © 2010 Jim and Michele McCarthy
(The Core is distributed under the terms of the GNU General
Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either
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The Core is considered as source code under that agreement. You are
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entirety, including this paragraph.)
The following Core Protocols are made up of both commitments and protocols.
- I commit to engage when present.
- To know and disclose
- what I want,
- what I think, and
- what I feel.
- To always seek effective help.
- To decline to offer and refuse to accept incoherent emotional transmissions.
- When I have or hear a better idea than the currently
prevailing idea, I will immediately either
- propose it for decisive acceptance or rejection, and/or
- explicitly seek its improvement.
- I will personally support the best idea
- regardless of its source,
- however much I hope an even better idea may later arise, and
- when I have no superior alternative idea.
- I will seek to perceive more than I seek to be perceived.
- I will use teams, especially when undertaking difficult tasks.
- I will speak always and only when I believe it will improve the general results/effort ratio.
- I will offer and accept only rational, results-oriented behavior and communication.
- I will disengage from less productive situations
- When I cannot keep these commitments,
- When it is more important that I engage elsewhere.
- I will do now what must be done eventually and can effectively be done now.
- I will seek to move forward toward a particular goal, by biasing my behavior toward action.
- I will use the Core Protocols (or better) when
applicable.
- I will offer and accept timely and proper use of the
Protocol Check protocol without prejudice.
- I will neither harm—nor tolerate the harming of—anyone for his or her fidelity to these commitments.
- I will never do anything dumb on purpose.
The Pass protocol is how you decline to participate in
something. Use it anytime you don’t want to participate in an
activity.
Steps
- When you’ve decided not to participate, say “I pass. ”
- Unpass any time you desire. Unpass as soon as you know you
want to participate again by saying “I unpass. ”
Commitments
- Hold reasons for passing private.
- Pass on something as soon as you are aware you are going to pass.
- Respect the right of others to pass without explanation.
- Support those who pass by not discussing them or their pass.
- Do not judge, shame, hassle, interrogate or punish anyone
who passes.
Notes
- In general, you will not be in good standing with your
Core Commitments if you pass most of the time.
- You can pass on any activity; however, if you have adopted
the Core Commitments, you cannot pass on a Decider vote and
you must say “I’m in” when checking in.
- You can pass even though you have already started
something.
Use Check In to begin meetings or anytime an individual or group Check In would add more value to the
current team interactions.
Steps
- Speaker says “I feel [one or more of MAD, SAD, GLAD,
AFRAID].” Speaker may provide a brief explanation. Or if
others have already checked in, the speaker may say “I pass.”
(See the Pass protocol.)
- Speaker says “I’m in.” This signifies that Speaker intends
to behave according to the Core Commitments.
- Listeners respond, “Welcome.”
Commitments
- State feelings without qualification.
- State feelings only as they pertain to yourself.
- Be silent during another’s Check In.
- Do not refer to another’s Check In disclosures without
explicitly granted permission from him or her.
Notes
- In the context of the Core Protocols, all emotions are
expressed through combinations of MAD, SAD, GLAD, or
AFRAID. For example, “excited” may be a combination of GLAD
and AFRAID.
- Check In as deeply as possible. Checking in with two or
more emotions is the norm. The depth of a group’s Check In
translates directly to the quality of the group’s results.
- Do not do anything to diminish your emotional state. Do
not describe yourself as a “little” mad, sad, glad, or afraid
or say “I’m mad, but I’m still glad.”
- Except in large groups, if more than one person checks in,
it is recommended that all do so.
- HAPPY may be substituted for GLAD, and SCARED may be
substituted for AFRAID.
Check Out requires that your physical presence always signifies
your engagement. You must Check Out when you are aware that you cannot maintain the Core Commitments or whenever
it would be better for you to be elsewhere.
Steps
- Say “I’m checking out.”
- Physically leave the group until you’re ready to Check In once again.
- Optionally, if it is known and relevant, you can say when you believe you’ll return.
- Those who are present for the Check Out may not follow the person, talk to or about the person checking out
or otherwise chase him or her.
Commitments
- Return as soon as you can and are able to keep the Core Commitments.
- Return and Check In without unduly calling attention to your return.
- Do not judge, shame, hassle, interrogate, or punish anyone
who checks out.
Notes
- When you Check Out do it as calmly and gracefully as possible so as to cause minimal disruption to
others.
- Check Out if your emotional state is hindering your success,
if your receptivity to new information is too low, or if you do not
know what you want.
- Check Out is an admission that you are unable to contribute
at the present time.
The Ask For Help protocol allows you to efficiently make use
of the skills and knowledge of others. Ask For Help is the act
that catalyzes connection and shared vision. Use it
continuously, before and during the pursuit of any result.
Steps
- Asker inquires of another, “[Helper’s name], will you X?”
- Asker expresses any specifics or restrictions of the
request.
- Helper responds by saying “Yes” or “No” or by offering an
alternative form of help.
Commitments
- Always invoke the Ask For Help Protocol with the phrase
“Will you . . .
- Have a clear understanding of what you want from the Helper
or if you do not have a clear understanding of what help you
want, signal this by saying “I’m not sure what I need help with,
but will you help me?”
- Assume that all Helpers are always available and trust that
any Helper accepts the responsibility to say “No.”
- Say “No” any time you do not want to help.
- Accept the answer “No” without any inquiry or emotional
drama.
- Be receptive of the help offered.
- Offer your best help even if it is not what the asker is
expecting.
- Postpone the help request if you are unable to fully
engage.
- Request more information if you are unclear about the
specifics of the help request.
- Do not apologize for asking for help.
Notes
- Asking for help is a low-cost undertaking. The worst possible
outcome is a “No,” which leaves you no further ahead or behind
than when you asked. In the best possible outcome, you reduce the
amount of time required to achieve a task and/or learn.
- Helpers should say “No” if they are not sure if they want to
help. They should say nothing else after turning down a request
for help.
- You cannot “over-ask” a given person for help unless he or
she has asked you to respect a particular limit.
- If you don’t understand the value of what is offered, or feel
that it wouldn’t be useful, or believe yourself to have
considered and rejected the idea offered previously, assume a
curious stance instead of executing a knee-jerk “But . . .”
rejection. (See the Investigate protocol.)
- Asking in time of trouble means you waited too long to ask
for help. Ask for help when you are doing well.
- Simply connecting with someone, even if he or she knows
nothing of the subject you need help on can help you find answers
within yourself, especially if you ask that person to Investigate
you.
Use Protocol Check when you believe a protocol is being used
incorrectly in any way or when a Core Commitment is being
broken.
Steps
- Say “Protocol Check.”
- If you know the correct use of the protocol, state it. If
you don’t, ask for help.
Commitments
- Say “Protocol Check” as soon as you become aware of the
incorrect use of a protocol, or of a broken Core Commitment. Do
this regardless of the current activity.
- Be supportive of anyone using Protocol Check.
- Do not shame or punish anyone using Protocol Check.
- Ask for help as soon as you realize you are unsure of the
correct protocol use.
Use Intention Check to clarify the purpose of your own or
another’s behavior. Use it when you aren’t expecting a positive
outcome resulting from the current behavior. Intention Check
assesses the integrity of your own and another’s intention in a
given case.
Steps
- Ask “What is your/my intention with X?” where X equals some
type of actual or pending behavior to the person whose intention
you want to know.
- If it would be helpful, ask “What response or behavior did
you want from whom as X?”
Commitments
- Be aware of your own intention before checking the intention
of another.
- Investigate sufficiently to uncover the intention of the
person or his actions.
- Make sure you have the intention to resolve any possible
conflict peacefully before intention checking someone else. If
you do not have a peaceful intention, Check Out.
- Do not be defensive when someone asks you what your
intention is. If you can’t do this, Check Out.
Notes
- If conflict arises that seems irresolvable, Check Out and
Ask For Help.
Use Decider anytime you want to move a group immediately and
unanimously towards results.
Steps
- Proposer says “I propose [concise, actionable behavior].”
- Proposer says “1-2-3.”
- Voters, using either Yes (thumbs up), No (thumbs down), or
Support-it (flat hand), vote simultaneously with other
voters.
- Voters who absolutely cannot get in on the proposal declare
themselves by saying “I am an absolute no. I won’t get in.” If
this occurs, the proposal is withdrawn.
- Proposer counts the votes.
- Proposer withdraws the proposal if a combination of outliers
(No votes) and Support-it votes is too great or if proposer
expects not to successfully conclude Resolution (below). You can
approximate “too great” by using the following heuristics:
- approximately 50% (or greater) of votes are Support-it, OR
- the anticipated gain if the proposal passes is less than
the likely cost of Resolution effort
- Proposer uses the Resolution protocol with each outlier to
bring him in by asking, “What will it take to get you in?”
- Proposer declares the proposal carried if all outliers change
their votes to Yes or Support-it.
- The team is now committed to the proposed result.
Commitments
- Propose no more than one item per proposal.
- Remain present until the Decider protocol is complete;
always remain aware of how your behavior either moves the group
forward or slows it down.
- Give your full attention to a proposal over and above all
other activity.
- Speak only when you are the proposer or are directed to speak
by the proposer.
- Keep the reasons you voted as you did to yourself during the
protocol.
- Reveal immediately when you are an absolute no voter and be
ready to propose a better idea.
- Be personally accountable for achieving the results of a
Decider commitment even if it was made in your absence.
- Keep informed about Decider commitments made in your
absence.
- Do not argue with an absolute no voter. Always ask him or her
for a better idea.
- Actively support the decisions reached.
- Use your capacity to “stop the show” by declaring you “won’t
get in no matter what” with great discretion and as infrequently
as possible.
- Insist at all times that the Decider
and Resolution protocols
be followed exactly as per specification, regardless of how many
times you find yourself doing the insisting.
- Do not pass during a Decider.
- Unceasingly work toward forward momentum; have a bias toward
action.
- Do not look at how others are voting to choose your own
vote.
- Avoid using Decider in large groups. Break up into small
subgroups to make decisions, and use the large group to report
status.
Notes
- Vote No only when you really believe the contribution to
forward momentum you will make to the group after slowing or
stopping it in the current vote will greatly outweigh the
(usually considerable) costs you are adding by voting No.
- If you are unsure or confused by a proposal, support it and
seek clarification offline after the proposal is resolved. If
you have an alternate proposal after receiving more information,
you can have faith that your team will support the best
idea. (See “The Core Commitments”)
- Voting No to make minor improvements to an otherwise
acceptable proposal slows momentum and should be
avoided. Instead, offer an additional proposal after the current
one passes or, better yet, involve yourself in the
implementation to make sure your idea gets in.
- Withdraw weak proposals. If a proposal receives less than
seventy percent (approximately) Yes votes, it is a weak proposal
and should be withdrawn by the proposer. This decision is,
however, at the discretion of the proposer.
- Think of yourself as a potential solo outlier every time you
vote No.
- Vote Absolute No only when you are convinced you have a
significant contribution to make to the direction or leadership
of the group, or when integrity absolutely requires it of
you.
When a Decider vote yields a small minority of outliers, the
proposer quickly leads the team, in a highly structured fashion, to
deal with the outliers. The Resolution protocol promotes forward
momentum by focusing on bringing outliers in at least cost.
Steps
- Proposer asks outlier “What will it take to get you in?”
- Outlier states in a single, short, declarative sentence the
precise modification required to be in.
- Proposer offers to adopt the outlier’s changes or withdraws
the proposal.
Notes
- If the outlier’s changes are simple, a simple Eye Check is
performed to determine if everyone is still in.
- If the outlier’s changes are complex, the proposer must
withdraw the current proposal and then submit a new proposal that
incorporates the outlier’s changes.
- If the outlier begins to say why he voted No or to explain
anything other than what it will take to get him in, the proposer
must interrupt the outlier with “What will it take to get you in?”
The Perfection Game protocol will support you in your desire to
aggregate the best ideas. Use it whenever you desire to improve
something you’ve created.
Steps
- Perfectee performs an act or presents an object for
perfection, optionally saying “Begin” and “End” to notify the
Perfector of the start and end of the performance.
- Perfector rates the value of the performance or object on a
scale of 1 to 10 based on how much value the Perfector believes
he or she can add.
- Perfector says “What I liked about the performance or object
was X,” and proceeds to list the qualities of the object the
Perfector thought were of high quality or should be
amplified.
- Perfector offers the improvements to the performance or
object required for it to be rated a 10 by saying “To make it a
ten, you would have to do X.”
Commitments
- Accept perfecting without argument.
- Give only positive comments: what you like and what it would
take to “give it a 10.”
- Abstain from mentioning what you don’t like or being
negative in other ways.
- Withhold points only if you can think of improvements.
- Use ratings that reflect a scale of improvement rather than
a scale of how much you liked the object.
- If you cannot say something you liked about the object or
specifically say how to make the object better, you must give it
a 10.
Notes
- A rating of 10 means you are unable to add value, and a rating
of 5 means you will specifically describe how to make the object
at least twice as good.
- The important information to transmit in the Perfection Game
protocol improves the performance or object. For example, “The
ideal sound of a finger snap for me is one that is crisp, has
sufficient volume, and startles me somewhat. To get a 10, you
would have to increase your crispness.”
- As a perfectee, you may only ask questions to clarify or
gather more information for improvement. If you disagree with the
ideas given to you, simply don’t include them.
The Personal Alignment protocol helps you penetrate deeply into
your desires and find what’s blocking you from getting what you
want. Use it to discover, articulate, and achieve what you
want. The quality of your alignment will be equal to the quality
of your results.
Steps
- Want. Answer the question: “What specifically do I want?”
- Block. Ask yourself, “What is blocking me from having what I
want?”
- Virtue. Figure out what would remove this block by asking
yourself “What virtue—if I had it— would shatter this block of
mine?”
- Shift. Pretend the virtue you identified is actually what
you want.
- Again. Repeat steps 2 to 4 until this process consistently
yields a virtue that is powerful enough to shatter your blocks
and get you what you originally thought you wanted.
- Done. Now write down a personal alignment statement in the
form “I want [virtue].” For example, “I want courage.”
- Signal/Response/Assignment. Create a signal to let others
know when you are practicing your alignment, and provide a
response they can give you to demonstrate support. For example,
“When I say/do ‘X,’ will you say/do ‘Y’?” Optionally, turn it
into an assignment by saying you will do X a certain number of
times per day, where X equals an activity that requires you to
practice living your alignment.
- Evidence. Write, in specific and measurable terms, the
long-term evidence of practicing this alignment.
- Help. Ask each member of your group for help. They help by
giving the response you would like when you give your signal
that you are practicing your alignment.
Commitments
- Identify an alignment that will result in your personal
change and require no change from any other person.
- Identify blocks and wants that are specific and
personal.
- Identify blocks that, if solved, would radically increase
your effectiveness in life, work, and play.
- Choose a virtue that is about you and preferably one word
long. For example: integrity, passion, self-care, peace,
fun.
- Ask for help from people who know you and/or know
alignments.
- Identify evidence that is measurable by an objective third
party.
Notes
- The most popular personal alignments are “I want (Integrity,
Courage, Passion, Peace, Self-Awareness or Self-Care)”.
- If you are struggling with figuring out what you want, adopt
the alignment “I want self-awareness.” There is no case where
increased self-awareness would not be beneficial.
- A personal block is something you find within yourself. It
does not refer to circumstances or other people. Assume that you
could have had what you want by now, that your block is a myth
that somehow deprives you of your full potential.
- Ideally, identify both immediate and long-term evidence of
your alignment. Write down results that start now (or very
soon), as well as results you’ll see at least five or more years
in the future.
- As a default signal, tell your teammates or others who are
close to you that you are working on your alignment when you are
practicing it. If they don’t know the protocol, just tell them
what virtue you are working on and ask for their help.
- When members of a team are completing their personal
alignments together (asking each other for help), the final step
of the process is most powerful if done as a ceremony.
Investigate allows you to learn about a phenomenon that occurs in
someone else. Use it when an idea or behavior someone is presenting
seems poor, confusing, or simply interesting.
Steps
- Act as if you were a detached but fascinated inquirer,
asking questions until your curiosity is satisfied or you no
longer want to ask questions.
Commitments
- Ask well-formed questions.
- Ask only questions that will increase your
understanding.
- Ask questions only if the subject is engaged and appears
ready to answer more.
- Refrain from offering opinions.
- Do not ask leading questions where you think you know how he
or she will answer.
- If you cannot remain a detached, curious investigator with
no agenda, stop using the protocol until you can come back to it
and keep these commitments.
Notes
- Do not theorize about the subject or provide any sort of
diagnosis.
- Consider using the following forms for your questions:
- What about X makes you Y Z?
- Would you explain a specific example?
- How does X go when it happens?
- What is the one thing you want most from solving X?
- What is the biggest problem you see regarding X now?
- What is the most important thing you could do right now to
help you with X?
- Ineffective queries include the following:
- Questions that lead or reflect an agenda.
- Questions that attempt to hide an answer you believe is
true.
- Questions that invite stories.
- Questions that begin with “Why."
- Stick to your intention of gathering more information.
- If you feel that you will explode if you can’t say what’s on
your mind, you shouldn’t speak at all. Consider checking your
intention or Check Out.