# The Dual Transformation Operating Cadence

**The two-week interleaved schedule that keeps the legacy clock and the successor clock from colliding.**

By Falk Gottlob — falkster.com

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## The schedule

| Day | Even week | Odd week |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Legacy planning + release prep | Successor eval review (overnight runs, drift detection) |
| Tuesday | Legacy build (heads-down) | Successor build (Days 1-3 of the one-week cycle) |
| Wednesday | Legacy build / Mid-week sync (15 min) | Successor outcome cohort review (last 7 days) |
| Thursday | Legacy build | Successor ship to production behind quality gates |
| Friday morning | Legacy customer health review | Successor weekly outcome retro |
| Friday 3pm | Friday Read-Out (15 min, both teams + CEO + CPO) | Friday Read-Out (15 min, both teams + CEO + CPO) |

## Cross-team rituals on alternating weeks

| Even weeks | Odd weeks |
|---|---|
| Legacy customer escalation review | Agent customer escalation review |
| Agent infrastructure review | Legacy architecture review |

Both teams attend both rituals (rotating leads), so context flows. Neither team is in two same-day standups.

## Monthly rituals

- **First Monday of month:** Sunset Drumbeat memo from CPO to whole company. Three sections: where we are on migration percentage, what's working, what's hard. Named call-outs.
- **Second Monday:** Agent department review (which agents shipped, which retired, which need quality investment).
- **Third Monday:** Legacy NRR review with sales.
- **Fourth Monday:** Pricing experiment review on the agent product.

## Quarterly rituals

- **Quarterly Reality Check:** CPO and leadership team review the two clocks honestly. Three questions: Are the cadences still right? Is talent allocation still right? Are we on the published sunset date?
- **Board update:** Trough position, leading indicators, what changed, what's next.
- **Comp plan review:** Successor at 150%, legacy at 50%. Hold the line.

## The talent allocation snapshot

Use this template to track talent allocation quarterly. Hard fences. No rotation.

| Category | Headcount | % of eng | Lead | Mandate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maintenance team | _ | _% | | Stability + migration tooling |
| Successor team | _ | _% | | Build, evaluate, ship |
| Bridge engineers | _ | _% | | Data, auth, identity, infrastructure |
| Total | _ | 100% | | |

Target ratios: Maintenance 5-15%, Successor 60-75%, Bridge 5-10%, plus PM/Design overhead.

## What this template doesn't do

- It doesn't tell you when to publish the sunset date. That's the cannibalization decision (see [/handbook/cannibalization-decision-framework](https://falkster.com/handbook/cannibalization-decision-framework)).
- It doesn't replace the seven-decision sequence. The cadence is what runs after the seven decisions.
- It doesn't work without bridge engineers as a real role with real calendar time. If they're "available when needed," integration breaks.

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*This template pairs with [The Dual Transformation Operating Model](https://falkster.com/blog/dual-transformation-operating-model) and the handbook chapter [Dual Transformation: Running Two Clocks](https://falkster.com/handbook/dual-transformation).*