Glossary

Satisfaction criterion

An evaluable predicate that makes an expected outcome verifiable. It answers what must be true at completion, what must not occur, and which data prove fulfilment; without criteria, the…

An evaluable predicate that makes an expected outcome verifiable. It answers what must be true at completion, what must not occur, and which data prove fulfilment; without criteria, the objective cannot govern the design.

It must be a predicate: something that, when the process ends, is true or false without argument. If two reasonable people can disagree over whether it was met, it is not a criterion but an aspiration.

Related terms

Expected outcome

The business state that must be reached when the process ends correctly. It should not be confused with a document output: an output is an approved form; an outcome is a supplier cleared to…

Strong satisfaction

The level of fulfilment in which every normal trajectory reaches an expected outcome while meeting criteria and thresholds, and every exceptional trajectory ends in a governed exception with…

Threshold

The quantification of the tolerance allowed for a satisfaction criterion, with a target, a band and a direction (maximize, minimize or stay within range).

Well-formed objective

An objective that satisfies all well-formedness rules across its nine components: purpose, stakeholders, outcomes, criteria, thresholds, constraints, risks, capabilities and evidence.