GLOSSARY
WHAT TO CHECK
Editorial convention: a decision states the question, the owner and the deadline. An option is a plausible answer, including the status quo. A choice selects an option and commits resources. A trade-off makes visible the other paths set aside and the benefits the organisation accepts not to pursue.
An assumption is an uncertain and refutable assertion. Evidence is dated material whose method and scope can be checked. An estimate combines data and assumptions to produce a value or range. A score aggregates criteria according to a convention: it structures a trade-off but does not turn judgements into facts.
A signal is a dated observation that may affect an assumption. A trend describes an evolution established for a defined scope and period. A scenario combines consistent assumptions without predicting the future. A trigger threshold is a condition set in advance that leads to investigation, revision or reopening a decision.
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Use the question “How can strategic terms be used without ambiguity?” as a contract: name the owner, deadline, scope and alternatives before collecting more material. This glossary sets out the editorial conventions used on the site to distinguish decisions, assumptions, evidence, scenarios, scores and signals. These definitions clarify reasoning; they do not claim to impose universal vocabulary. Record what is deliberately outside scope, who can challenge the framing and what consequence follows from postponement. This prevents an attractive framework, actor list or market story from silently replacing the decision that the analysis is meant to support.
VALIDATION DOSSIER
For every material statement, retain the original source, publication date, observation period, method, unit and relevant population. Distinguish observed facts, calculated estimates, interview judgements and assumptions. Connect the register to the promised output: A stable vocabulary for comparing analyses produced at different times. Missing or contradictory evidence remains visible with a responsible owner and a collection action; it is never converted into certainty merely to complete the page.
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Define the rules before applying the analysis: inclusion criteria, identifiers, comparison set, calculation or coding convention, treatment of missing values and version date. Reproduce the same convention across every option or actor. Use the page checks as acceptance tests, beginning with “Define a term before using it in a calculation.” A conclusion is usable only when another practitioner can reconstruct how the inputs became the displayed result and identify where judgement entered.
LIMIT
