Named bottlenecks the organisation has chosen to fix in order to reach its Key Results.
An intent is a bottleneck the organisation has chosen to fix in order to reach its Key Results. Intents are the unit of investment in the portfolio: each one gets capacity, evidence, and a Continue/Pivot/Stop verdict at every decision ritual.
An Intent is not a project or a feature request. It is a problem statement with a measurable signal.
It specifies the bottleneck (the named constraint), an intent signal (a local metric with baseline and target), constraints, out-of-scope boundaries, and a timebox. At the end of the timebox, the Portfolio Decision Forum makes a forced decision: Continue (extend and invest more), Pivot (keep the intent but change approach), or Stop (reallocate capacity elsewhere).
This forced decision cadence is what prevents intents from drifting into zombie projects.
7
Card fields
Intent name · Linked KR · Bottleneck · Intent Signal · Constraints · Out of scope · Timebox. NO Hypothesis field.
4–8 wk
Timebox
Forces a Continue / Pivot / Stop call regardless of evidence — prevents intents from running indefinitely.
KR
Linked to
One PRIMARY Key Result per Intent. Owner: Adaptive Investor. Loop Leader accountable for outcome.
Key principles
✓ An Intent names a bottleneck the org commits to fix.
✓ Unit of investment in the portfolio.
✓ Continue / Pivot / Stop at the Forum.
✓ Re-stated only when evidence forces it.