Readiness Gate

A readiness gate is a predeclared evidence threshold that must be met before advancing to a higher-risk activity. It converts a vague feeling of preparedness into a decision based on observable results.

Interview relevance

In interview preparation, a gate might require two timed attempts with independently visible testing and no repeated critical error before scheduling a real loop. In production, a rollout gate might require error-rate, latency, data-integrity, and rollback checks before increasing traffic.

A gate should name the evidence, measurement window, decision owner, failure response, and exception policy. A checklist item that can always be waived without recorded reasoning is not a gate.

Poor gates encourage gaming: teams optimize the measured artifact while the underlying risk remains. Pair a gate with evidence that is difficult to manufacture accidentally and review whether passing it actually predicted safer outcomes.

Useful test

Ask what happens when the criterion fails. If the answer is “continue anyway” and no explicit risk acceptance occurs, the criterion is only a suggestion.