7. The Consequence Matrix
Consequences are not personal punishments — they are structural responses designed to correct behaviour and protect the team from instability.
Level 1 — Automated Friction
| Trigger | Submitting work without tests, or failing CI/CD |
| Response | Instant, automated PR rejection. No human intervention required. |
Level 2 — "You Broke It, You Own It"
| Trigger | Merging code that triggers a live regression alert |
| Response | Engineer must halt new work, initiate rollback, write an RCA, and present it to the team |
Required steps after a regression:
- Halt all new work immediately
- Initiate a system rollback
- Write a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) explaining why the telemetry missed it
- Present the RCA to the team in the next sync
Level 3 — System-Restricted Access
| Trigger | Repeatedly bypassing the SOP — e.g. skipping the PRD-to-AI Spec translation |
| Response | Loss of direct-to-production privileges. All code must go through a stricter audit branch requiring lead sign-off. |
Level 4 — Formal Performance Action
| Trigger | Willful negligence and active refusal to follow automated guardrails |
| Response | Formal Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) and potential termination |
🚫
The consequence matrix applies consistently regardless of seniority, tenure, or past contributions. There are no exceptions.