A 3-session, 6-contact-hour workshop that gives TJP task force teams one repeatable process for turning an idea into a deliverable the public will adopt. Synthesizes W. Edwards Deming (quality and measurement), Jony Ive (design and simplicity), and Patrick Lencioni (team health). No math, no control charts. Designed for facilitation by TJP leadership and trained staff, for teams of 3 to 5.
Deliverable: ADOPT-Model-Workshop-Facilitator-Guide.pdf - 20 pages, numbered footers,
print-ready, no internet required. (The printed guide was produced before the name change;
reprint it with TJP and Keystone wording before the next workshop.)
The five steps
| Step | Name | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| A | Agree on the Problem | Shrink the harm four ways (WHO / WHERE / WHEN / HOW) until it is hittable. Deming's operational definition. |
| D | Diverge Wide | Silent brainstorming, Worst Idea flipped, Steal Sideways. Quantity only, zero judging. |
| O | One Path | Two Doors sort, then the LESS filter, then every member says the decision back out loud. |
| P | Prototype Small | 45-minute hard stop. Paper and marker. Build the thing, not a description of it. |
| T | Try, Test, Tune | Pilot presentation, silent audience scoring, 3 Ws debrief, ONE change, then a verdict. |
Shape: A+D open up, O narrows, P+T build and open again on real feedback, then close on a verdict.
The four pocket tools
TRUST (team rules, Lencioni, all three days) Tell it early - Rank the idea not the person - Unfinished is allowed - Say it in the room - Take the task.
PROOF (measurable criteria, Deming, written on Day 1 BEFORE anything is built) Problem Number (baseline, go count it) - Result Number (what counts as a win) - Observer (who checks, outside the team) - On this date - Fail Line (what number means this failed). Test: if two people counted, would they get the same number?
LESS (simplicity filter, Ive/Rams, Day 2) Lose a step - Explain it in one breath - Stranger-proof - Small enough to carry.
The 3 Ws (debrief, Day 3) What Worked - What Wobbled - What's Next (exactly one change).
Verdict: ADOPT / ADJUST / ABANDON. Abandon is a successful outcome when documented honestly.
Session structure
- Day 1 (120 min): Set the table + TRUST charter (15) / A - Four Cuts + Five Whys (35) / PROOF line + two-counter trade (30) / Diverge, three rounds (35) / Close (5). Output: bounded problem, signed PROOF line, 30+ idea cards. Nothing gets built.
- Day 2 (120 min): Reopen (10) / Two Doors (22) / LESS (18) / Commitment Round (8) / Prototype, 45-min hard stop / Stranger Test (13) / Close (4).
- Day 3 (120 min): One final fix (15) / Run the pilot, 12 min per team (40) / Silent scoring + 3 Ws (20) / Blame the Process + One Change (25) / Verdict (15) / Handoff (5).
Core doctrine
- Nobody builds anything until the numbers are written down. This is the whole model.
- Blame the process, not the person. Fixes are changes to the thing, never to a person's effort.
- One Change Rule. Change five things and you learn nothing about which one worked.
- A team that will not name its Fail Line will always call a miss a win.
- Build for one named real person, not "the public."
Sample project included
Preventing home theft. Runs start to finish: from "break-ins in our neighborhood" (a category) to a bounded statement about 40 households on two named streets, a full PROOF line (11 thefts / 6 of 40 locking / target 30 of 40 / association secretary as observer / day 60 / fail line under 15), 34 diverged idea cards, the Two Doors and LESS sort, a one-page ten-item home check card with the porch talk script printed on the back, a piloted presentation, and an ADJUST verdict with an honest limitations statement.
Five copy-master handouts
Team Charter (TRUST) - Problem Statement (Four Cuts) - The PROOF Line - Two Doors + LESS Worksheet - Pilot Debrief + Verdict. Plus a facilitator pocket card.
How it connects to the rest of TJP
- Inside any course, weeks 7-9: the build-and-pilot phase is one compressed ADOPT cycle.
- The Keystone: ADOPT stretched across ten weeks. Wks 1-3 = A, wk 4 leverage check inside D, wks 5-6 = O and P, wk 7 pilot, wks 8-9 = T, wk 10 defense. The Day 3 handoff envelope is the raw material for the Keystone Evaluation Plan and Limitations Statement.
- The TJP Playbook: every ADOPT project gets a one-page Project Page, reviewed at Tactical meetings and revised at Strategic meetings (see the TJP Meeting Rhythm).
- The TJP Evidence System: every PROOF line, pilot score, and verdict is logged in the TJP Evidence Workbook and rolls up into the TJP Monthly Report.
- External credibility: ADOPT maps closely onto the SARA model (Scanning, Analysis, Response, Assessment) used in problem-oriented policing. Say that to a sheriff's office or school district.
Further study (full annotated list in the guide, pp. 19-20)
Innovation/design: Kelley & Kelley Creative Confidence; Brown Change by Design; IDEO.org Field Guide to Human-Centered Design (free); Norman Design of Everyday Things; Rams Ten Principles for Good Design (free); Johnson Where Good Ideas Come From; Berkun Myths of Innovation. Quality/measurement: Walton The Deming Management Method; Deming Out of the Crisis and The New Economics; Langley et al. The Improvement Guide; Gawande The Checklist Manifesto; Ries The Lean Startup; Patton Utilization-Focused Evaluation. Teams: Lencioni Five Dysfunctions, Death by Meeting, The Advantage; Edmondson The Fearless Organization; Kaner Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making (best book for facilitators). Project management: Berkun Making Things Happen; PMI PMBOK Guide; Sutherland Scrum; DeMarco & Lister Peopleware. Adoption: Rogers Diffusion of Innovations; Heath & Heath Made to Stick and Switch; Meadows Thinking in Systems. Crime prevention: POP Center Problem-Specific Guides incl. Burglary of Single-Family Houses (free); Clarke Situational Crime Prevention; Newman Defensible Space.