The ABCD Framework is the structured implementation sequence for the Sherpa Cognitive Verification Method. It provides a repeatable pathway from initial assessment through sustainable integration. The framework is recursive, not linear. After Demonstrate reveals gaps, organizations return to Assess, Build, Coach as needed.
A: Assess
Purpose: Understand the gap between work-as-imagined and work-as-done.
The Assess phase maps how safety verification actually functions in the field versus how the organization believes it functions. This includes observing how supervisors currently interact with workers before task execution, what questions are asked (if any), how workers respond, and what artifacts the organization currently relies on to verify readiness.
The output is a baseline measurement of cognitive verification gaps: where the organization checks paperwork but not thinking, where binary questions substitute for diagnostic conversations, and where the Verification Gap is widest.
B: Build
Purpose: Develop task-specific cognitive verification prompts that follow the Specificity Principle.
The Build phase creates customized Sherpavisor scripts tailored to the organization's specific operations, equipment, and hazard profile. These are not generic templates. They are prompts designed for specific tasks in specific operational contexts, tested with supervisors and frontline workers for clarity and usability. Prompts that feel scripted or artificial are revised until they can be delivered conversationally.
The output is practical cognitive verification prompts organized by task type, ready for supervisor use.
C: Coach
Purpose: Reset supervisor identity from rule enforcer to guide who verifies thinking.
The Coach phase delivers the Crucible intervention: 4 hours of classroom exercises that create cognitive dissonance followed by 4 hours of field-based coaching where supervisors practice WMTI conversations with real workers. Supervisors enter with Tell-Watch-Yell habits and emerge with Ask-Listen-Coach capabilities.
The output is supervisors who can construct prompts following the Specificity Principle, deliver them conversationally, interpret responses diagnostically, and coach gaps using Echo and Expand.
D: Demonstrate
Purpose: Prove the method works in your environment and build the measurement infrastructure that sustains it.
The Demonstrate phase integrates CVQF indicators into organizational dashboards, establishes data collection protocols, trains Tier 2 verifiers, sets up leadership review cadences, and defines the sustainability mechanisms that prevent degradation. This is where cognitive verification transitions from a training event to an organizational system.
The output is measurable evidence that conversation quality has changed, visible on leadership dashboards, integrated into operational meetings, and built into supervisor performance frameworks.
Recursive, Not Linear
The ABCD Framework does not end at Demonstrate. CVQF data reveals new gaps, changed conditions, workforce turnover effects, and emerging drift patterns. Each of these findings triggers a return to the appropriate phase. A new operation requires a new Assess. A new task type requires a new Build. New supervisors require Coach. Degradation in indicators requires investigation and targeted correction.
This recursive design is what makes cognitive verification sustainable. It is not a program with a start and end date. It is a system that self-corrects through measurement discipline.