DR-004: 7-day operating cadence with compressed weekend window¶
Status¶
Accepted — 2026-04-13 evening · CEO-approved · Codified in CLAUDE.md v1.2.1
Context¶
CLAUDE.md v1.1 used a 5-day (Mon-Fri) cadence with weekend radio silence. Rick works 7 days a week — often late nights and early mornings — and the 5-day cadence had two failure modes:
- Weekend work was invisible. If Rick worked on a Saturday, there was no structural cadence for executives to check in, no Daily Summary, and no compliance tracking. Work happened but wasn't governed.
- Monday kickoff lost weekend context. Without weekend check-ins, Monday morning rollups had to reconstruct what happened on Saturday and Sunday, which produced stale or missing information.
The question: should the operating system mirror Rick's 7-day work rhythm, and if so, how does weekend cadence work when weekends may genuinely be quieter?
Decision¶
Adopt a 7-day operating cadence with compressed weekend windows:
| Day type | Morning Check-In | EOD Check-Out | Enforcement sweeps | CEO Daily Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon-Fri | 8:00 AM PST | 5:30 PM PST | 8:30 AM + 6:00 PM | 6:30 PM PST |
| Sat-Sun | 12:00 PM (noon) PST | 4:00 PM PST | 12:30 PM + 4:30 PM | 5:00 PM PST |
Weekend cadence is real but compressed. Effective weekend work window is ~4 hours (noon to 4 PM). Quiet weekend check-ins are valid per Section 3.4 — executives can post minimal "STANDING BY — quiet weekend, no new activity" messages for compliance.
Rolling 7-day miss window replaces the old 5-day window for symmetric accountability. Weekend misses count the same as weekday misses.
Alternatives considered¶
Option A — Keep 5-day (Mon-Fri) cadence, leave weekends silent¶
Rejected. Mirrors the problem: Rick's weekend work remains ungoverned. CEO Daily Summaries have gaps.
Option B — Full 7-day cadence with same times as weekdays¶
Rejected. Overbearing. Executives would be required to file 8:00 AM check-ins on Saturdays even if nothing is happening. Creates compliance theater without value.
Option C — 7-day cadence with compressed weekend windows + quiet check-in option¶
Accepted. Preserves governance symmetry while respecting that weekends are often genuinely quieter. Quiet check-ins (20 seconds) solve the "nothing to report but show I saw the cadence" problem.
Consequences¶
What becomes easier: - Rick's weekend work has governance coverage - Monday morning kickoffs start with context intact - Daily Summary continuity across the full week - Symmetric accountability (no weekend blind spot)
What becomes harder: - chief.staff works 7 days — CoS enforcement sweeps + Daily Summary production is now a 7-day job - Executives must remember weekend cadence differs from weekday cadence - Quiet weekend check-ins require discipline (executives might skip them thinking they don't matter — they do, for compliance tracking)
Trade-off accepted: chief.staff 7-day working rhythm in exchange for full weekly governance continuity.
Section 17 Self-SLA expanded¶
This decision triggered Section 17 CoS Self-SLA expansion: chief.staff must run weekend sweeps (12:30 PM + 4:30 PM PST) and deliver weekend CEO Daily Summary (5:00 PM PST). Missing any weekend deliverable is a self-filed SEV3 incident per the same rules as weekday deliverables.
Related¶
- [[CLAUDE]] Section 3 (Daily Operating Cadence), Section 3.4 (Weekend Window), Section 17 (CoS Self-SLA)
- Chief.staff memory
feedback_7_day_cadence.md - All executive contracts (updated to reflect v1.2.1 times on 2026-04-14 during the cadence timing sweep)
Date: 2026-04-13 · Author: chief.staff · Stakeholders: ceo, chief.staff, all executives · Codified in: CLAUDE.md v1.2.1