WORKED EXAMPLE · PILOT EDITION

Worked example: Velmont Outdoor

Fictional worked example. Velmont Outdoor, its people, numbers and documents are invented to show how the pilot works from first page to final decision. Every handwritten answer was written for this example.

Velmont Outdoor (fictional) makes outdoor jackets and packs. It was built on one promise: buy once, repair for life. It’s now growing fast through a cheaper “Lite” line and 220 big-box stores. The CEO believes the growth is the brand now. Here’s what happened when the team tested that belief.

STAGE 1 · WEEK 1
They join the pilot

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The Scale workbook. Fictional example.
Velmont is a growing company, so it gets the Scale edition. The workbook is the main tool; the team runs it themselves.
STAGE 2 · WEEK 2
Step 1: the CEO writes what she believes, alone

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The CEO’s answer to Question 1. Fictional example.
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Question 1. She describes the growth plan’s customer: ‘gear that looks the part, at a fair price’.
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The CEO’s answer to Question 5. Fictional example.
2
What can never be compromised? ‘Looking good at a fair price.’ Keep this one in mind.
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The CEO’s Known and Assumed count. Fictional example.
3
1 Known, 4 Assumed. That isn’t a failure: it shows how much of the strategy rests on belief.
Her test (Question 3), written before anyone looked: if Lite buyers don’t buy again within 12 months, the growth plan is wrong.
STAGE 3 · WEEK 3
Step 2: five leaders answer the same questions, alone

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Sam’s team sheet. Fictional example.
4
Sam runs repairs: ‘The repair promise. Break that and we’re just another brand on the shelf.’
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The team comparison. Fictional example.
5
Gaps on 4 of 5 questions. Three leaders describe a repair-for-life brand; two describe the CEO’s.
Disagreement is a finding. Nobody had seen anyone else’s answers, so this is the first time the split was visible.
STAGE 4 · WEEK 4
They request the outside read

At the end of Step 2, the team requests its outside read on a short form. The form asks for a checkpoint phrase printed in their workbook, and never asks for their answers. We start researching Velmont from public evidence while they carry on with Step 3.
STAGE 5 · WEEKS 4–7
Step 3: they check it against customers

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Original customers against growth customers. Fictional example.
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Their own order data: 38% of direct customers buy again within 3 years. 9% of Lite buyers within 6 months.
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The signal test. Fictional example.
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7,900 different customers, not 9,400 repairs. Independent customers count, not records.
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Three possible real brands. Fictional example.
8
They mark the growth plan ‘Not tested yet’, because it’s only been 6 months. That’s an honest place to be.
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The team’s Brand Brief. Fictional example.
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Their Brand Brief tries to keep both: ‘Gear that lasts, for everyone who goes outside.’ Confidence: 6 out of 10.
STAGE 6 · WEEK 8
They seal their findings

Before seeing anything from us, they save a dated copy of their completed workbook. Their original answers can’t be changed by what the outside read says.
STAGE 7 · WEEK 8
The outside read arrives

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The short version of the outside read. Fictional example.
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Written from public evidence only, without seeing their workbook. ‘Growth is coming from a line customers don’t keep.’
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Three possible answers, with verdicts. Fictional example.
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The outside read marks the growth plan Wrong as the brand’s role. It doesn’t say the Lite line can’t make money.
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What is pulling the brand away. Fictional example.
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Four of five public decisions pull toward the growth plan. Resale prices show what customers actually value.
Read the full Brand Intelligence Report (fictional)
STAGE 8 · WEEK 9
Crosscheck: the two sets of findings, side by side

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Crosscheck, field 01. Fictional example.
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Field 01. Their own private data agreed with the outside read. The stronger evidence wins, whichever side it’s on. Verdict: Wrong.
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Crosscheck, the Non-Negotiable. Fictional example.
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The Non-Negotiable was never ‘a fair price’. 7,900 customers paid shipping and waited weeks for a repair.
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Crosscheck, the test. Fictional example.
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The CEO’s own test stays open. Not tested yet, until March 2027. Agreement is not proof, and neither is impatience.
The result: 4 fields hold, 2 are wrong, 1 holds for one group, and 1 is not tested yet. A person signs every verdict.
STAGE 9 · WEEK 10
The decision

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The decision page. Fictional example.
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The Real Brand, in one sentence: ‘Buy once, repair for life.’
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Three decisions: Lite gets its own name; repair waits go back to 3 weeks; only the repairable range goes into big-box stores, tested in 20 stores first.
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Every open question gets an owner and a date.
10
STAGE 10 · NEXT
What happens next
1. Feb 2027Repair tags tested in 20 stores
2. Mar 2027Lite 12-month repeat rate: 25% or more keeps the plan, under 15% ends it
3. May 2027Six-month re-check of the Brand Brief
This is where the example ends. We haven’t invented results. In the pilot, the result is whatever customers do next.