Reviews often drift into open-ended conversations instead of clear evaluations. In CBC, the close of an agreement is as structured as the start, measuring results against what was committed. Why? Because an agreement without a review is just paperwork. The close is where clarity pays dividends — where success and failure are proven, not spun.
How to Review an Agreement
- Return to the Success Criteria
CBC success criteria are the litmus test: either the deliverable meets the conditions agreed to, or it doesn’t. No storytelling, no re-framing.
Example: “Did we deliver the API with response times under 200ms as agreed?” Not: “We worked really hard and it’s faster than before.” - Evaluate Execution vs. Agreement
Separate two questions:- Was the work delivered?
- Was it delivered as agreed?
CBC draws a hard line here. Effort doesn’t count; outcomes do. This keeps people from hiding behind “progress” when the contract was for results.
- Capture Learnings, Not Excuses
Missed criteria should lead to insights: Was the scope off? Were dependencies mismanaged? Did someone drop the ball? The point isn’t therapy; it’s refinement. The next agreement should be sharper because of what this one revealed. - Acknowledge and Record Outcomes
A closed CBC agreement is documented: success or failure, signed off by both sides. This avoids the corporate amnesia where results get rewritten months later to fit the narrative.
Contrasting CBC with Traditional Approaches
- OKRs/KPIs
- OKRs: “We aimed for 30% growth, hit 18%, but let’s call it a win because ‘stretch goals.’”
- CBC: “We agreed to 30%. We delivered 18%. Agreement not met.”
OKRs and KPIs leave wiggle room; CBC shuts it down.
- Agile Retros
- Agile theater: everyone shares “what went well” and “what could improve” until the post-its run out.
- CBC: the contract itself dictates what went well or didn’t. The review is fact-based, not feelings-based.
Example Scenario: Startup Direct Report
A startup engineer agreed to deliver a customer dashboard by end of sprint, with specific criteria:
- Must support real-time data refresh
- Must include role-based access
- Must be deployed to staging by Friday
At review:
- Real-time refresh works.
- Role-based access is missing.
- Deployment hit staging Monday, not Friday.
Under OKRs, leadership might spin this as “80% complete, great effort, team showed grit.”
Under CBC, it’s simple: agreement not fulfilled. Outcome recorded, lessons logged, next agreement adjusted to prevent the same miss. The engineer knows where they stand, and so do you.
The Takeaway
Closing agreements in CBC is binary and brutally clear: delivered or not, as agreed or not. No story-spinning, no KPI gymnastics. That discipline is what separates CBC from frameworks that confuse “trying” with “succeeding.”
