What does the evidence say the manuscript needs next?
The Chair is not a sixth opinion. Its job is to compare the five independent reports, preserve useful disagreement and make a decision that can be explained.
Do not average the Hats into a score. A strong reader response does not cancel an editorial problem. A difficult commercial proposition does not prove that readers will not value the book. Each Hat has answered a different question.
Before you begin
Bring together:
- the sealed Day Zero question;
- the Reader report;
- the Editor report;
- the Bookseller report;
- the Marketer report; and
- the Sceptic report.
You will not need to enter personal details. Stonecurrent Press does not retain your answers or build a profile from the game.
1. Reopen the sealed question
Read the question exactly as you wrote it. Do not rewrite it to fit what you now know.
Record:
- what you originally feared the answer might be;
- what the five reports now allow you to say; and
- what remains genuinely uncertain.
2. Build the evidence board
For each Hat, record its strongest finding, the evidence or example supporting it and what it asks you to do.
Then identify:
- the finding supported by the clearest evidence; and
- the finding that still depends most on judgement.
3. Keep disagreement visible
Record where the Hats agree and where they disagree. Before resolving a disagreement, ask whether the two Hats were judging the same feature, reader or decision.
If the disagreement is real, state what evidence would help resolve it.
4. Diagnose the problem
Decide whether the evidence points primarily to:
- a manuscript problem;
- an intended-reader problem;
- a positioning problem;
- a discovery and reach problem; or
- a confidence or evidence problem.
Also name anything the reports show is not a problem and should be left alone.
5. Make the decision
Choose one primary outcome:
- Proceed: the manuscript and proposition are strong enough for the next real-world step.
- Revise: a defined manuscript or presentation problem needs correction first.
- Test: the case is plausible, but one important assumption needs evidence.
- Pause: the present version or proposition does not justify further commitment yet.
Record the evidence that decided the outcome, the strongest contrary evidence and why the decision still stands.
6. Turn the verdict into work
Choose one priority action. Define the first three steps, the evidence that will show each is complete and a review date.
Also record what you will deliberately not change yet.
Final sentence
Complete this sentence:
The manuscript now needs…
Keep the five reports and the Chair report together as a dated decision record. Repeat the game only after substantial revision, new reader evidence or a material change in the intended market.
Five people to satisfy. Five ways to see the work. One decision you can explain.
Download the Chair worksheet (PDF)
Download the complete Five Hats Solo Edition (PDF)
A genuine free resource from Stonecurrent Press.
If this stage link was forwarded to you, please start at the main Five Hats page so that you receive the stages in the intended order.