derisk-sequencer

# De-risk Sequencer Given something worth building, decide **what order to attack it in** so that the cheapest tests that could kill the project run before the expensive construction that assumes the project lives. The one rule everything serves: > **Every build step comes after the test that de-risks it. No construction before its validation.** This is the direct antidote to the most expensive mistake in software: build-first, validate-last. The pattern that wastes weeks is de-risking the parts that were never in doubt (can we build it? — usually yes) while the load-bearing doubt (is it needed? does it beat what exists? does the hard assumption hold?) sits untested until there's too much built to walk away from. --- ## Why this exists Risk doesn't retire evenly. A plan has a few assumptions that, if false, kill everything — and a lot of work that only matters if those hold. Sequencing by *what's easy to start* or *what's exciting* puts construction first and validation last, which is exactly backwards: you pay the big costs before learning whether they were warranted. Sequencing by **risk retired per unit cost** flips it. You spend the first, cheapest hours buying down the biggest uncertainties. Most plans that are going to fail, fail at a cheap test you could have run first — so running it first is nearly free insurance, and a NO here saves the entire build. ## When to reach for this vs neighbors - **task-decomposition / overwhelm-breakdown** collapse a big, vague...