did we serve? — opening
Opening
The cycle closes at the model update. The question that doesn't close is whether the work served — the people we built it for, and the team that built it.
The other phases of the cycle have ends. Before We Build ends with a signed brief. What We Shape ends with a slice declared. As We Build ends with the flag enabled. After We Build ends with the model updated and the retro change owned.
Did We Serve has no end inside a single cycle. It is the persistent strand — the continuous service the chain produces between cycles, across cycles, sometimes for years against a single relationship.
A cycle that ends is a cycle that closed. A relationship that ends is a relationship that broke. The chain has discipline for both — and they are not the same discipline.
What this phase covers
- The Ongoing Relationship — three levels of support, the SLA as operational contract, helpdesk metrics, the cadence of weekly written updates and bi-weekly syncs.
- The Team — onboarding to the chain, T-shaped people, small-team adaptation, psychological safety, knowledge retention.
- The Portfolio — DORA, VRI, technical debt as chain gaps, when to kill an initiative.
- Adoption & Living the Chain — how the chain itself is adopted, sequenced, maintained, and evolved.
These are not parts that follow each other. They run in parallel, continuously, while the cycle phases above turn over.