The Three Loops
- Fix the mistake (single-loop) — a validator FAILs a PR; the seat
iterates; re-validation passes. Routine by design. - Fix the system that produced it (double-loop) — casualties become
candidate:lines, which become policy; the debrief legislates so the
class of mistake dies, not the instance. - Fix how the fixing works (triple-loop, the meta-skill) — did the
learning machinery itself perform? What would have caught this sooner,
cheaper, or without escalating to the maintainer?
The Standing Question
A debrief that only answers loop 1 is a log, not learning. Every debrief
should name, even briefly: what did the learning machinery itself do this
session, and did it work?
Relationship to the Trust Kernel
This is not a new value — it is canon/values/trust-kernel ("Trust Is Built
by Managing Expectations") gaining a standing instrument. Declared
expectations are promises with a shape; triple-loop review is the audit that
keeps the promise about the learning process itself honest, not just the
promise about any single outcome.
Failure Mode Without This
Triple-loop insight only surfaces when a human happens to notice it (e.g., a
bridge-fix vs. architecture-fix distinction). The class of catch does not
scale past the attention of whoever is watching that day.