The living record of edges
DirectedAlpha
DirectedAlpha holds the heading: the living record of the edges you are actively testing. The Field Guide diagnoses friction. The daily ritual walks the edge. AlphaProtocol closes the loop. DirectedAlpha lives inside every tier; it is not a separate product.
What it is
A working record of the directions, edges, assumptions, and experiments that matter now. It keeps the current heading visible while evidence changes around it.
- A claimed direction, written plainly
- The edge currently being tested
- The assumption that still needs evidence
- The next decision to continue, recalibrate, or close
What it is not
- Not a bucket list or wish inventory
- Not Forge List
- Not private-equity “Direct Alpha”
- Not the game Alpha Protocol
- Not another product, app, or 21st principle
One system, three levels of support
DirectedAlpha inside each tier
Signal
Name the heading and keep the current edge visible through the handwritten ritual. The Discovery Pass is available whenever direction begins to blur.
Coherence
Run the Weekly Discovery Pass by default. Test the heading against capacity, environment, and returned evidence before adding effort.
Resonance
Hold the living record collaboratively. Re-cut the heading, edge, and assumptions during one-to-one calibration and milestone review.
Weekly Discovery Pass
Five questions before another week begins
Take fifteen minutes. A Floor week can shorten the review, but it does not erase contact with the heading.
A practical resource to use and share
The current-edge checklist
An edge is a specific opportunity or uncertainty you can test. Give the heading a record that is short enough to revisit before the daily ritual.
Copy this into your notebook
Heading: What matters in this season?
Current edge: What specific question or opportunity am I testing?
Assumption: What do I believe that still needs evidence?
Next Rep: What action can produce that evidence?
Returned evidence: What actually happened?
Review point: When will I decide to continue, recalibrate, or close?
A worked example
Heading: Build a more dependable client pipeline.
Current edge: Will a clearer proposal opening help the right clients understand the offer?
Assumption: Prospects are unclear about the outcome, rather than uninterested in the service.
Next Rep: Block 25 minutes for the client deck; rewrite the opening around one client problem.
Evidence: Record the questions and objections from the next three relevant conversations.
Review point: Friday: keep the opening, revise the assumption, or test a different constraint.
Before you add more effort
- Can I name the direction without borrowing yesterday’s urgency?
- Is the edge specific enough to test?
- Does the next action fit the capacity I actually have?
- Have I recorded evidence separately from my interpretation?
- Have I chosen a review point and a decision that evidence could change?
One unclear answer is a place to recalibrate. On a low-capacity day, use Floor: one state word, one heading, one next action. The full record can wait; contact with the heading stays.
Use the Field Guide to diagnose friction, then use the daily written ritual to walk the edge. For role-specific examples, see founders, executives, or veterans.
The honorable exit
Recalibrated Off the List
A direction does not have to fail to end. When evidence shows that a heading no longer fits the season, capacity, or values that produced it, remove it deliberately. Record what changed, what was learned, and what becomes possible now. That is refinement—not quitting.
Continue through the system