A story track · bring data to play it
Comp committee / annual review
The Comp Review
Position, drift, equity — then the scenarios and the recommendation. This is the track — the ordered card-slots this story needs, laid out as a hypothesis before any data exists. Bring data and the engine confirms each slot, or hands the story off down a branch.
the story · before any data
the hero
A comp committee that must choose a posture, not admire analysis — wants to pay competitively, fairly, and on purpose.
the villain
Drift — a pay posture nobody chose, assembled one exception at a time
the problem, felt at three levels
- External · Position vs market is part fact, part folklore; off-cycle adjustments compound; two populations may hide under one average.
- Internal · The quiet worry that the next offer lost or the next equity audit will reveal a posture we can't defend.
- Philosophical · Pay is the clearest sentence a company ever says about what it values — it shouldn't be written by accident.
the plan
- 1See the true posture (position, drift, structure)
- 2Cost the honest options (Models I/II/III)
- 3Choose one and write the rationale on the record
if nothing changes
Defer and drift keeps writing the posture for you — collected in lost offers, quiet inequities, and a committee meeting that gets harder every year.
success
A funded posture with its reasoning on the record.
From reacting to comp one exception at a time — to choosing it once, on purpose, and defending it with evidence.
the screenplay · the sequence of scenes it needs
Act I — The World
positionTHE REASSURANCE
the posture
Where do we sit vs market?
fills with
the handle · Is the posture chosen or accidental? Say which.
Act II — The Forces
drift · compression · equity— BUT —
THE DRIFT
the drift
Is pay drifting from plan?
fills with
the handle · Decompose by driver; endorse or cap.
— AND —
THE HIDDEN SPLIT
structure check
Two populations under one average?
fills with
the handle · Match the gradient to value.
Act III — The Choice
scenarios → recommendation— WHICH MEANS —
THE BET
scenario-cost-recommend (Models I/II/III pattern)
Which model do we fund?
fills with
a computed step (calculator / decision) — not a single card
the handle · Recommend one; cost the others honestly.
the resolution · what this story exists to produce
A funded comp posture with its rationale on the record.
What next? What else?
More certainty is priced, not promised — the next steps, each a known cost against the decision:
- ↗ job-level pricing on the exposed roles
- ↗ equity deep-dive
- ↗ next-cycle calibration
what it needs to be told
told differently by altitude
exec · manager · analyst variants forthcoming
provenance · Frontdoor 2021 LTI + pricing decks (replayed) — this story, hand-made
The driving question: Where are we against the market, is anything drifting or unfair — and which option do we fund?
One story from the database — assembled from the shared deck of scenes. Browse the stories · browse the deck · bring your own data.