Burn charts for links, not egos

SLO Sketchpad exists because too many network teams borrow application metrics and end up defending charts they do not truly own. We anchor the course on link-native signals and plain-language budgets.

During the first cohort pilot, we watched a retail WAN team discover they were double-counting headroom. The mistake was honest; the fix required a facilitated conversation, not another dashboard.

We also rehearse how to stand beside cloud cost ops partners without turning the room into a turf war. That means practicing “no” to vanity charts while still offering a credible alternative path.

By week three, each learner presents a burn chart that names assumptions in footnotes. If the footnotes are empty, mentors send it back—gently but firmly—until the narrative can survive daylight.