Scoping in AI Projects
The Validation Phase is the second phase of the FDE motion and validates the scoped thing before the team commits to delivery.
The Moment After Scoping
Imagine a team has finished scoping. They have a clear description of something they could build or deliver. The work so far has produced a candidate. What should happen next?
Most people would expect the very next move to be a formal agreement and a schedule. Write the candidate down, sign an agreement, set a delivery timeline, and begin. That is a natural instinct, and it is exactly the path that the FDE motion does not take at this point. The Validation Phase exists because the FDE motion stops here and asks a more basic question: is this scoped thing actually the most valuable thing to do?
Keep that question in mind as you read. This article follows how the FDE motion answers it, and why the answer changes what happens next.
Tracing the Sequence of Steps
The source labels the Validation Phase as Phase 2 of the FDE motion. The number tells you that it follows an earlier step, and that earlier step is scoping. Validation is not a replacement for scoping. It is the stage that comes after scoping has produced a candidate and before the team makes a binding move toward delivery.
Read the diagram from left to right. Scoping is the upstream step, and it hands over a candidate. The Validation Phase is the highlighted middle step. The delivery commitment sits to the right of it, which means that in the FDE motion, validation comes before the team binds itself to delivering anything. The source pack describes the phases around validation only in terms of this ordering, so the diagram shows the position of validation without naming any other phase.
Validation as a Structured Question
The Validation Phase is the second phase of the FDE motion. It validates the scoped thing before the team commits to delivery.
The validation question is structured. The source describes it as asking, in a structured way, whether the scoped thing is actually the most valuable thing to do. The word most carries the weight here. A scoped thing can be worthwhile and still not be the best use of the team's effort. Validation tests that comparison directly, rather than assuming that a well-scoped idea is automatically the right one.
The question is answered through a small set of activities. Those activities produce hard signals, and the source's key idea is timing: the signals arrive before the commitment, so they can still change the decision. If the same information arrived only after a statement of work was signed, it could no longer alter the choice to commit.
The diagram shows validation as a gate rather than a formality. The signals feed a decision, and the decision determines whether the team moves toward delivery. The source states that validation exists to decide whether the team proceeds, and that this decision is made on evidence rather than on the momentum of scoping. The source pack does not spell out the specific project steps that follow a negative result, so the right-hand branch shows only that the team does not commit at this point.
Two Paths Side by Side
The easiest way to see the difference between the two approaches is to follow both paths side by side. Both begin with scoping, and they diverge at the very next step. That divergence is the entire point of this section. The source also makes a strong claim: the Validation Phase is what distinguishes the FDE motion from standard solutions consulting. If you want to know whether a team is working in the FDE style, one of the clearest places to look is what it does right after scoping.
In the standard consulting column, the scoping result leads to a statement of work and then a delivery timeline. The commitment is made at the start of the next phase. In the FDE column, the scoping result leads first to a structured question about value. The team does not yet know whether the scoped thing deserves to be delivered, so it gathers hard signals before it commits. The two columns share a starting point and differ only in what they do next, and that difference is what the source identifies as the mark of the FDE motion.
Applying the Validation Question
A Scoped Candidate Under Validation
A team has finished scoping. It has a clear description of one thing it could deliver. Using the FDE motion, explain what the team should do before it commits to delivery, and why the order matters.
- 1Identify the state after scoping
Scoping has produced a candidate. The team has a clear description of a thing it could build or deliver, but it has not yet decided whether that thing is the best use of its effort.
- 2Recognize the next phase
The Validation Phase is Phase 2 of the FDE motion. It comes after scoping and before any binding move toward delivery, so it is the next step in the FDE path.
- 3Ask the structured question
The team asks whether the scoped thing is actually the most valuable thing to do. The word most means the team compares the candidate against alternatives instead of assuming it is right simply because it is well scoped.
- 4Gather hard signals
The team runs its small set of validation activities. These produce hard signals that the team can use as evidence.
- 5Decide before committing
Because the signals arrive before the commitment, the team can still change its decision. If the evidence supports the candidate, the team moves toward delivery. If it does not, the team has not yet signed anything that would make changing course costly.
The team does not move straight from scoping to a statement of work. It validates the candidate first, and it makes the delivery commitment only after the evidence has been gathered and considered.
Common Mistakes About Validation
Common mistake Treating validation as a replacement for scoping
Why it failsThe source places validation after scoping. Scoping produces the candidate, and validation checks that candidate. Validation does not produce the candidate itself.
Do this insteadThink of validation as the step that follows scoping and tests its output before the team commits.
Common mistake Assuming a well-scoped idea is automatically the right one
Why it failsThe validation question asks whether the scoped thing is the most valuable thing to do. A worthwhile idea can still fall short of the best use of the team's effort.
Do this insteadCompare the candidate directly against the question of value rather than relying on how clearly it was described.
Common mistake Running validation after the delivery commitment
Why it failsThe source's key point is timing. Signals that arrive after a binding commitment cannot change the decision to commit.
Do this insteadComplete the validation activities and review their signals before any statement of work or delivery timeline is treated as binding.
Common mistake Treating validation as a formality
Why it failsThe source describes validation as a checkpoint whose purpose is to decide whether the team proceeds, based on evidence rather than the momentum of scoping.
Do this insteadLet the signals genuinely inform the decision, and be prepared for the possibility that the evidence does not support moving forward.
Predicting the Next Move
What do you think happens?
A team has finished scoping and has a clear candidate to deliver. In the FDE motion, what is the very next question the team asks?
Reveal answer
The team asks a structured question: is the scoped thing actually the most valuable thing to do?
The source contrasts this with standard solutions consulting, where scoping is followed by a statement of work and a delivery timeline. In FDE work, validation comes first, and it is the point where the team checks the candidate before committing.
Write two short paragraphs. In the first, describe the standard consulting path after scoping, naming the steps in order. In the second, describe the FDE path after scoping, naming the steps in order and explaining where the two paths diverge and why the Validation Phase matters at that point.
Hints
- Start both paragraphs from the same scoping result so the divergence is easy to see.
- Use the phrase before the team commits to delivery when you explain why validation is placed where it is.
- The word most in the validation question is the key to explaining why a well-scoped idea still needs checking.
Key Takeaways
- The Validation Phase is the second phase of the FDE motion. It sits after scoping and validates the scoped thing before the team commits to delivery.
- After scoping, standard solutions consulting moves to a statement of work and a delivery timeline, while FDE work first asks whether the scoped thing is actually the most valuable thing to do.
- Validation happens before the commitment because its hard signals arrive in time to change the decision. A checkpoint placed after the commitment could no longer do that.
- Validation is a decision gate decided on evidence, not a formality, and it does not replace scoping; it tests what scoping produced.