The Weekly Review Protocol 2.2.1-1

Purpose

The weekly review is a 60-minute structured self-correction session. It operationalizes fallibilism as a maintenance rhythm — not a crisis response. The protocol below can be run solo or with a trusted partner. It requires nothing beyond a notebook or document, honesty, and a calendar entry.

The Protocol

Step 1 — Select (5 minutes)

Identify the three most significant beliefs, commitments, or decisions you acted on this week. Significance means consequence: these are the positions that shaped your time, your resources, or your relationships. Write each one as a single declarative sentence.

Example: "The product launch timeline is realistic." "My team member is underperforming because they lack training." "This market segment is worth pursuing."

Step 2 — Provenance (15 minutes)

For each of the three items, answer:

• What evidence supports this? Name the specific data, observation, or source. If the evidence is secondhand, name the source and your reason for trusting it.
• What assumptions does this rest on? Identify at least one assumption you have not independently verified.
• How old is the evidence? Evidence ages. A market assessment from six months ago may describe a market that no longer exists.

Record the answers. Do not editorialize — this is inventory, not evaluation.

Step 3 — Update (15 minutes)

For each item, answer:

• What happened this week that bears on this? New data, failed predictions, contradicted sources, or changed conditions all qualify. If nothing changed, record that — stability is information.
• Does the new information warrant a revision? Three options: the belief holds as stated, the belief holds with reduced confidence, or the belief requires revision. Choose one and record your reasoning.

Step 4 — Decision (15 minutes)

For each item, answer:

• What am I committing to? Name the action that follows from your current position.
• What evidence would change my mind? Name the specific data, outcome, or event that would trigger a revision.
• When will I check again? Set a date. Write it in your calendar. The review date is not optional — it is what separates disciplined revision from open-ended hedging.

Step 5 — Log (10 minutes)

If any belief was revised during this session, record the revision in your "I Changed My Mind Because…" log. Name the prior position, the evidence that prompted the change, and the revised position.

If no beliefs were revised, note that. A review that produces no updates is not a failure — it is confirmation that your current positions survived one more cycle of inspection.

Common Pitfalls

The comfort audit. Selecting beliefs that are easy to examine rather than beliefs that carry real consequences. The test: if you would be embarrassed to discover you were wrong about this, it belongs in the review.

Evidence hand-waving. Recording "various sources" or "general experience" as provenance. Every claim rests on something specific. Name it.

Indefinite review dates. "I'll check back when I learn more" is not a review date. Pick a date. If nothing has changed by then, extend it — but always to a specific date.

Identity fusion. If examining a belief produces defensiveness rather than curiosity, the belief has likely fused with your self-concept. Externalize it: write it on the page, examine it as a proposition, and evaluate it on evidence rather than loyalty.