Expansion record template
Proposed scope change, evidence for it, and the correction capacity it requires.
Expansion review
Make scope growth its own authorization decision, with fresh evidence and a check that correction capacity grew with it.
- 1 Evidence
- 2 Authority acts here
- 3 Decision
- 4 Consequence
- 5 Challenge
- 6 Reconsideration
- 7 Correction
Where it acts
At Authority, one of the seven stages every consequential decision passes through. It treats each widening of scope as a new permission, granted on fresh evidence.
Steps
Put the mechanism in motion
3 steps, in order. Check each one off as it is done; the records below show the work was done.
0 of 3 steps complete
Records this mechanism keeps
What a team running this mechanism keeps, and what each record is for.
Correction capacity check
Comparison of the reviewers, reversal paths, and repair budget before and after the change.
Expansion criteria list
What counts as expansion for this system, agreed before the first request.
Reuse-ready snippets
Copy policy, audit, and incident language
Use these snippets in requirements, audits, and postmortems with the mechanism permalink.
Policy requirement
Policy requirement (MEC-19 Expansion review) - Any growth in population, action class, ceiling, or autonomy is authorized as a new decision with its own evidence. - The decision records whether correction capacity grows with the expanded scope. Reference: https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/expansion-review
Product requirement
Product requirement (MEC-19) - Scope changes are applied through a grant transition, not through configuration drift. - The grant history distinguishes expansion transitions from renewals.
Audit evidence checklist
Audit evidence checklist (MEC-19) [ ] Expansion criteria are defined for the system. [ ] Each expansion has a record with evidence and a correction-capacity check. [ ] Grant histories show expansion transitions with reviewers.
Postmortem trigger
Postmortem trigger (MEC-19) Trigger review when scope grew without an expansion record, or when it grew while correction capacity stayed fixed.
How it plays out
A pilot that ran well in one region is treated as a request rather than a result: the team files an expansion record, finds the appeals queue would need two more reviewers, funds them, and only then transitions the grant.
Anti-patterns
Common failure cases and counterfactuals
Each case passes on paper and fails in operation. The counterfactual shows what would have worked.
The automation ratchet
Success is taken as its own authorization, so scope only ever widens and never contracts.
Counterfactual: Expansion is a decision with evidence, and contraction is an available outcome.
Exception: Fast expansion is fine when each step is a recorded decision with capacity behind it.
Expansion by configuration
Scope grows through a threshold change or a new tool binding that no one reviews as an authority change.
Counterfactual: Scope changes move through a grant transition with a reviewer.
Exception: Routine parameter tuning inside an agreed ceiling is not expansion; crossing the ceiling is.
Diagnostics for this mechanism
Tools that size the risk this mechanism addresses.
Diagnostic
Delegation audit
Walks a team through one workflow against six questions and returns an exposure score, the permissions nobody can justify, and whether its decisions can be undone. Start here when the system keeps no decision records yet; use the record conformance checker once it does.
Cite this page · v1.2.1 · updated Oct 6, 2026 · CC BY-SA 4.0
APA
Ethotechnics Institute. (2026). Expansion review (MEC-19). Ethotechnics Institute. https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/expansion-review
MLA
Ethotechnics Institute. "Expansion review (MEC-19)." Ethotechnics Institute, 2026, https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/expansion-review.
Chicago
Ethotechnics Institute. "Expansion review (MEC-19)." Ethotechnics Institute. Oct 6, 2026. https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/expansion-review.
BibTeX
@misc{mechanism_expansion-review,
title={Expansion review (MEC-19)},
author={Ethotechnics Institute},
year={2026},
howpublished={Ethotechnics Institute},
url={https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/expansion-review},
version={v1.2.1}
}
RIS
TY - WEB TI - Expansion review (MEC-19) AU - Ethotechnics Institute PY - 2026 UR - https://ethotechnics.org/mechanisms/patterns/expansion-review ER -