Outsets

An outset is any moment or condition where assumptions harden, commitments begin, structures set, or paths become constrained — such that later correction becomes meaningfully more difficult or costly.

Outset Design treats outsets as a first-class object of study because many failures are not failures of execution, but failures of beginnings.

A minimal set of outset types

These types are lenses. They can overlap in real situations.

Cognitive outsets

Framing, defaults, metaphors, assumptions, and the questions that are considered “in scope”.

Normative outsets

Principles, legitimacy, red lines, and what is considered acceptable or fair.

Commitment outsets

Points where obligations and lock-ins begin: agreements, terms, irreversible choices, dependency formation.

Structural outsets

Architectures and governance: incentives, roles, access, control surfaces, decision rights.

Temporal outsets

Sequencing and timing: irreversibility thresholds, path dependency, compounding effects.

Outset stacking

Outsets often stack in practice: cognitive framing shapes norms; norms shape commitments; commitments crystallize structures; structures generate long-horizon consequences; timing determines what can still be changed.