The Core Protocols V. 3.03

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 version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. For exact terms see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/. The Core is considered as source code under that agreement. You are free to use and distribute this work or any derivations you care to make, provided you also distribute this source document in its entirety, including this paragraph.)

The following Core Protocols are made up of both commitments and protocols.

The Core Commitments

  1. I commit to engage when present.
  2. I will seek to perceive more than I seek to be perceived.
  3. I will use teams, especially when undertaking difficult tasks.
  4. I will speak always and only when I believe it will improve the general results/effort ratio.
  5. I will offer and accept only rational, results-oriented behavior and communication.
  6. I will disengage from less productive situations
  7. I will do now what must be done eventually and can effectively be done now.
  8. I will seek to move forward toward a particular goal, by biasing my behavior toward action.
  9. I will use the Core Protocols (or better) when applicable.
  10. I will neither harm—nor tolerate the harming of—anyone for his or her fidelity to these commitments.
  11. I will never do anything dumb on purpose.
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Pass (Unpass)

The Pass protocol is how you decline to participate in something. Use it anytime you don’t want to participate in an activity.

Steps

  1. When you’ve decided not to participate, say “I pass. ”
  2. Unpass any time you desire. Unpass as soon as you know you want to participate again by saying “I unpass. ”

Commitments

Notes

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Check In

Use Check In to begin meetings or anytime an individual or group Check In would add more value to the current team interactions.

Steps

  1. 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.)
  2. Speaker says “I’m in.” This signifies that Speaker intends to behave according to the Core Commitments.
  3. Listeners respond, “Welcome.”

Commitments

Notes

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Check Out

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

  1. Say “I’m checking out.”
  2. Physically leave the group until you’re ready to Check In once again.
  3. Optionally, if it is known and relevant, you can say when you believe you’ll return.
  4. 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

Notes

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Ask For Help

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

  1. Asker inquires of another, “[Helper’s name], will you X?”
  2. Asker expresses any specifics or restrictions of the request.
  3. Helper responds by saying “Yes” or “No” or by offering an alternative form of help.

Commitments

Notes

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Protocol Check

Use Protocol Check when you believe a protocol is being used incorrectly in any way or when a Core Commitment is being broken.

Steps

  1. Say “Protocol Check.”
  2. If you know the correct use of the protocol, state it. If you don’t, ask for help.

Commitments

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Intention Check

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

  1. 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.
  2. If it would be helpful, ask “What response or behavior did you want from whom as X?”

Commitments

Notes

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Decider

Use Decider anytime you want to move a group immediately and unanimously towards results.

Steps

  1. Proposer says “I propose [concise, actionable behavior].”
  2. Proposer says “1-2-3.”
  3. Voters, using either Yes (thumbs up), No (thumbs down), or Support-it (flat hand), vote simultaneously with other voters.
  4. 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.
  5. Proposer counts the votes.
  6. 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:
    1. approximately 50% (or greater) of votes are Support-it, OR
    2. the anticipated gain if the proposal passes is less than the likely cost of Resolution effort
  7. Proposer uses the Resolution protocol with each outlier to bring him in by asking, “What will it take to get you in?”
  8. Proposer declares the proposal carried if all outliers change their votes to Yes or Support-it.
  9. The team is now committed to the proposed result.

Commitments

Notes

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Resolution

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

  1. Proposer asks outlier “What will it take to get you in?”
  2. Outlier states in a single, short, declarative sentence the precise modification required to be in.
  3. Proposer offers to adopt the outlier’s changes or withdraws the proposal.

Notes

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Perfection Game

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

Notes

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Personal Alignment

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

  1. Want. Answer the question: “What specifically do I want?”
  2. Block. Ask yourself, “What is blocking me from having what I want?”
  3. Virtue. Figure out what would remove this block by asking yourself “What virtue—if I had it— would shatter this block of mine?”
  4. Shift. Pretend the virtue you identified is actually what you want.
  5. 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.
  6. Done. Now write down a personal alignment statement in the form “I want [virtue].” For example, “I want courage.”
  7. 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.
  8. Evidence. Write, in specific and measurable terms, the long-term evidence of practicing this alignment.
  9. 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

Notes

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Investigate

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

  1. 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

Notes

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