Active Development
Testing what better decisions require.
Right now, that means one thing: a decision-confidence assessment for significant investment decisions, currently being developed and tested by Forge.
The Practice Lab is where Forge develops, tests and refines new ideas, methods and tools. It provides a view into work that is still being developed, without exposing the intellectual property that sits behind it.
Right now, that means one thing: a decision-confidence assessment for significant investment decisions, currently being developed and tested by Forge.
Some ideas are ready to publish. Others need to be tested first. The Practice Lab is the space between the two.
It is where Forge takes research, observations and emerging ideas and works through what they might become in practice. Development may involve testing a proposition, applying a framework, examining evidence, challenging assumptions or changing the design in response to what is learned.
The work is deliberately visible at the level of thinking and development. The underlying intellectual property is not.
The Lab shows the development. It does not give away the work.
Not every idea reaches the final stage. Some are changed. Some are combined with other work. Some are stopped. The Lab records that process.
What are we trying to understand, solve or make possible?
What could the idea become when translated into practice?
Does it work when exposed to evidence, application and challenge?
What needs to change as a result?
Is the work sufficiently developed to become part of Forge practice?
From research to practice.
IDCE™ is currently being developed by Forge as a decision-confidence approach for significant investments. It is designed to help organisations understand whether the evidence, assumptions, assurance, authority and readiness surrounding an investment are sufficient for the decision being made.
Its initial development is focused on New Zealand public-sector investment, while the underlying decision-confidence principles may have broader application over time. It did not begin as a standalone commercial product — it emerged from a deliberate programme of research and development.
The starting point was postgraduate research into governance and decision-making across New Zealand's transport, water and energy infrastructure sectors. That research established the evidence base for what followed.
Applied development then translated selected findings into practical governance and assurance approaches, creating a foundation for further work. Further development expanded that body of thinking into IDCE™, which is now being tested and refined through Forge.
Forge does not begin with a finished answer and work backwards to justify it. The development process starts with a question. Evidence informs the thinking. Application exposes what works and what does not. Reflection changes the work. The result is developed through a traceable process rather than simply declared as a new methodology.
These questions are part of the development process. They are not presented as settled conclusions.
As IDCE™ is developed, Forge will document selected observations and learning from the process — what changed, what was challenged, what evidence influenced the design, what assumptions were reconsidered, what became clearer through application, and what remains unresolved.
Development notes will appear here as the work progresses.
IDCE™ is the first major development featured here. Future Practice Lab work may include new assessment approaches, research-derived tools, methods, digital products and other ideas being developed by Forge. Some will become part of the practice. Others may not — the Lab exists to make that development process visible.
Interested in the work behind the work?
Forge works with leaders facing situations where understanding the conditions around a problem matters before deciding what to change. If the questions being explored in the Practice Lab are relevant to your organisation, we would be interested in the conversation.
Engage Forge →IDCE™ is a trade mark of Forge Practice Ltd. The material presented on this page describes work under development. It does not constitute a release of the underlying assessment methodology, tools, decision logic or other proprietary intellectual property. Copyright and other intellectual property rights in Forge materials remain with their respective owners.
