Strategy Breakpoint
ASF Adversarial Synthesis Framework • Regime & Tripwire Governance

ASF is not forecasting. It’s governance for deep uncertainty.

When strategies depend on assumptions, the main failure mode is not “being wrong”—it’s failing to notice when the assumptions expired. ASF prevents quiet assumption decay by defining mutually exclusive regimes, stress-testing them adversarially, and installing decision-forcing tripwires.

How ASF works

ASF models a small set of mutually exclusive regime states. Each regime is a rule-set that determines which strategies remain valid. Then ASF defines tripwires—observable thresholds that signal when the rule-set has changed. The objective is not clairvoyance; it’s disciplined uncertainty management: fewer surprise failures, clearer thresholds, and auditable reasoning that can be reviewed, updated, and defended.

1) Regime definition

Define 3–5 regimes as constraint-defined operating environments. Each regime must be mutually exclusive for governance.

2) Adversarial stress-testing

Attack the strategy: hidden failure modes, irreversibility, tail hazards, cross-impact constraints, and “consensus drift.”

3) Tripwire installation

Install soft and hard tripwires: signal → threshold → escalation owner → posture change. Make strategy-change actionable.

Regime

A regime is the rule-set that determines which strategies remain valid. It is not a narrative, not a scenario, and not a forecast. It’s the governance container for decision logic.

  • Each regime defines what is “safe to do” and what becomes dominated/fragile.
  • Misclassification cost is explicit: the most expensive error is identified upfront.

Tripwire

A tripwire is an observable threshold that signals a regime rule has changed. Tripwires are decision-forcing: they trigger escalation and posture changes.

  • Hard tripwires: immediate escalation (stop / unwind / hedge / re-approve).
  • Soft tripwires: watchlist and pre-tripwire degradation actions.

What ASF produces

ASF outputs are designed to be short, board-usable, and auditable. They define what to watch, why it matters, and what changes when the signal triggers.

Regime & Tripwire governance brief

A decision-control artifact: regimes, constraints, misclassification costs, and the tripwire set that forces timely escalation.

  • Strategy validity map: which actions are admissible per regime
  • Tripwire catalog: signals + thresholds + owners + actions
  • Governance rules: cadence, review triggers, change-control

Monitoring dashboard layer

A living layer that prevents the brief from decaying: status, pressure, and escalation artifacts that keep governance current.

  • Tripwire status and time-to-threshold pressure
  • Update cadence and provenance notes
  • Audit trail for changes (why updated, when, by whom)

Governance boundary language

Strategy Breakpoint is designed to be deployable in executive and board contexts. That requires clear boundaries: governance, not advice; thresholds, not targets; auditable reasoning, not narrative persuasion.

Boundary in one line

ASF provides a decision-governance framework for uncertainty management. It does not provide investment, trading, operational, or legal advice; it does not provide forecasts or guarantees; decision responsibility remains with the client.

What we do

Define regimes and constraints; stress-test adversarially; propose tripwires and escalation rules; produce board-grade briefs and monitoring artifacts; document reasoning and change-control so it can be reviewed and defended over time.

What we do not do

We do not issue point forecasts, price targets, “calls,” or guarantees. We do not execute trades or operational actions. We do not replace counsel, compliance, or management decision authority.

How engagements run

Engagements are designed to be low-burden and high-governance: short discovery, rapid synthesis, then an operating cadence if you choose monitoring.

Phase 0 — Fit & scope (fast)

Confirm decision class, irreversibility, time horizon, and governance audience. Define the strategy object and boundary conditions.

Phase 1 — Brief build

Define regimes; run adversarial synthesis; draft tripwires; align escalation owners and posture changes. Deliver the brief.

Phase 2 — Monitoring (optional)

Install the dashboard; run monthly or quarterly updates; maintain change-control and audit trail. Escalate when tripwires trigger.

Inputs we typically request

Decision-level materials are enough. ASF is designed to run without needing internal models or proprietary data exhaust.

  • Strategy memo(s), capex program, major commitments and constraints
  • Key counterparties/contracts and irreversibility points
  • Existing risk/compliance briefs and governance cadence

What you get back

Short artifacts meant to gate decisions and force timely escalation.

  • Regime map + constraint logic
  • Tripwire set with thresholds, owners, and actions
  • Governance rules: cadence, re-approval triggers, change-control