OAC-001
Starting a cross-organization collaboration
1. Context
Two or more organizations intend to collaborate on a shared initiative. They are aligning on goals, scope, roles, and the form of commitment.
2. Cognitive outset
- Is this framed as a partnership, a vendor relationship, or an experiment?
- What defaults are assumed (ownership, control, decision speed, authority)?
- What is implicitly “out of scope” and why?
3. Normative outset
- What principles must hold (transparency, reciprocity, non-extraction)?
- What would count as unfair advantage, exploitation, or coercion?
- What legitimacy constraints apply (stakeholders, public trust, duty of care)?
4. Commitment outset
- What exactly becomes binding, and when?
- What commitments are reversible vs effectively irreversible?
- What exit paths exist, and what costs do they impose on each party?
5. Structural outset
- Who decides what? (decision rights)
- Who controls key resources (budget, brand, data, access, distribution)?
- What incentives might diverge over time?
6. Temporal outset
- What sequence creates lock-in (announcement before agreement, integration before governance, etc.)?
- What deadlines distort negotiation?
- Where does compounding start (network effects, reputational dependencies, technical coupling)?
7. No-go conditions
- Asymmetries are present but cannot be acknowledged or mitigated.
- Exit is nominal but practically impossible for one party.
- Control surfaces (data, IP, distribution) are captured without accountability.
- Governance is absent while commitments are irreversible.
8. Review horizon
- Review after first commitment milestone (e.g., 30–60 days).
- Review whenever scope expands, integration deepens, or control surfaces change.
- Review after first conflict as a learning trigger, not only as remediation.
Note
This example illustrates Outset Design practice. Where fairness and pre-commitment are central, it may be appropriate to deepen the analysis using FDP’s fairness lens.