# Stewardship

Source: https://segern.com/practice/own-what-ships

Make continued use an owned responsibility.

Before something becomes part of everyday work, we establish who owns it, what people can expect, and how it will be cared for. The amount of documentation and oversight should reflect what could happen if it failed.

For a product or system, the ownership record includes its support route, expected service level where relevant, known issues, monitoring, update rhythm, and recovery plan. We make the conditions for replacement or retirement visible too. Important state and dependent users should not be discovered only when it is time to shut something down.

Early reviews check behavior, address sharp edges, evaluate whether the intended outcome is appearing, and consolidate what we have learned. Our product handoff can use checkpoints on days one, seven, fourteen, and thirty, adapted to the nature of the release. Those dates do not replace a response when a serious problem appears sooner.

For Continuity, the equivalent is a maintained account of the decision, its reasoning, the responsible people, and the evidence that would justify revisiting it. Follow-through stays within the agreed relationship. The purpose is to preserve useful context and clear responsibility as circumstances change.