Why does it warn past six items?

Definitions of done that run long stop being checked. Six is a practical ceiling; past that, split the work.

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Definition of done card

When

Lives where

Built by

The deliverable this covers

Must be true

each one checkable in ten seconds by somebody who did not do the work

#What must be true

More than six items. A card that only grows becomes a ritual people comply with rather than use. Every addition should be paid for by a removal, unless the new one is genuinely load-bearing.

What it must do for its readerone line about purpose

What it must not containexclusions are easier to check than inclusions

Checked by

At which moment

Version and date

Build it by sorting, not by writing

Take ten real instances of the deliverable and split them into fine and not fine, quickly and by instinct.

Then articulate what actually differs. That is the whole exercise, and it is harder than it sounds.

Write down the three or four differences that recur. Those are your standard.

Check the card against the pile. If work you considered fine fails it, the card is wrong, not the work.

Before any conversation about performance, check which branch you are on. If nobody defined what good looked like, the person was guessing, and they guessed in good faith. Keep the card where the work happens rather than in a folder, with one annotated example of good and one of not yet.

Add items freely, and the card warns you past six: a standard that only grows becomes a ritual. Saves in this browser only.

Prefer paper? Download the blank sheet as a PDF. The thinking behind it is in The Standard.

General guidance from practice, not legal, HR, or financial advice. Everything you type stays in this browser and is never sent to a server; clearing site data removes it.