Stages

Overview

What stages name

• The framework decomposes a piece of cognitive work in three orthogonal ways. The four cognitive patterns name what kind of human-AI relationship the work runs through; the six aspects decompose each pattern structurally; the eight phases decompose any unit of cognitive work temporally. Stages introduce a fourth decomposition operating at a different conceptual level: the sequential shape of a Nutropic implementation engagement itself. Not the cognitive shape of the work the framework describes, but the shape of the consulting engagement that introduces the framework into an organisation.
• The canonical sequence is Frame, Assess, Map, Allocate, Design, Pilot, Reflect, Handoff. Frame establishes what the engagement is for against the organisation's context. Assess applies the six-dimension readiness diagnostic and names the binding constraint. Map renders in-scope workflows in cognition mode or specification mode as the work requires. Allocate assigns exactly one pattern to each mapped workflow with explicit reasoning. Design produces the implementation artefact each allocation demands. Pilot runs a bounded test of one or two workflows under the chosen pattern. Reflect extracts the learning the pilot produced. Handoff transfers ownership to the team that will run the work after the engagement closes.
• Each stage produces specific deliverables, has an entry condition and an exit gate the next stage cannot meaningfully begin without, and carries its own characteristic failure modes. The default sequence is the eight-stage shape; engagement-type variations such as strategy-only, pilot-only, rescue and capability-build adapt it. The vocabulary is deliberately distinct from the eight cognitive phases: phases describe the kind of cognitive work happening inside any unit of work, while stages describe the gated sequence of an engagement that wraps around the work. Conflating the two produces confused prose where structural and temporal claims get tangled.