3-in-3 Model Maturity¶
Shared Responsibility & Relationship Maturity¶
Client and Vendor maturity grow together through progressive collaboration and shared ownership of decisions.
This maturity expresses how responsibility, trust, and autonomy evolve between both sides.
| Maturity Level | Client Focus | Team Focus | Shared Responsibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transactional Trust | Provides requirements and approvals. | Acts as Trusted Executor — follows plan, ensures quality within scope. | Defined by contracts and control; limited feedback. |
| Aligned Autonomy | Frames outcomes, clarifies success measures. | Becomes Autonomous in Execution — self-manages within agreed direction. | Alignment grows through transparency and predictable delivery. |
| Shared Ownership | Owns vision and intent, participates in decision shaping. | Owns Shaping and Execution — proposes options and trade-offs. | Decisions become co-created; priorities discussed openly. |
| Strategic Partnership | Entrusts business risk and direction. | Co-defines and Co-navigates Path — contributes to vision and strategy. | Full partnership; joint accountability for outcomes and value. |
Progression along this curve is gradual and reversible — it must be earned through reliability, openness, and continuous feedback.
Assessing Relationship Maturity¶
In 3SF, relationship maturity is measured not by duration but by quality of collaboration across three relationship lines:
- Engagement (Client + Vendor): Trust, transparency, and clarity of collaboration.
- Delivery (Team + Delivery): Capability, agility, and self-management in achieving goals.
- Value (Product + Client): Alignment of product outcomes with real business impact.
Each can be evaluated as:
- Reactive → Managed → Proactive, or
- Transactional → Aligned Autonomy → Strategic Partnership, depending on project depth.
Tools such as the 3-in-3 Maturity Self-Assessment help teams reflect on their current and target levels in each dimension.
Why Relationship Maturity Matters¶
Traditional SDLC frameworks assume delivery success depends solely on process quality.
In client–vendor environments, relationship quality is equally structural.
A technically correct system can still fail when:
- Governance is one-sided or unclear.
- Communication is filtered or delayed.
- Outcomes are validated separately by each side.
3SF closes this gap by embedding dual accountability and shared responsibility — ensuring that both client and vendor evolve together toward aligned autonomy and partnership.
When Maturity Stalls¶
Relationship maturity can regress when reliability or transparency erode.
Common signals include defensive communication, parallel decision-making, or focus on protecting scope instead of outcomes.
Such reversals do not mean failure — they reveal where trust and accountability need reinforcement.
3SF treats these moments as diagnostic opportunities to restore balance rather than assign blame.
Summary¶
The Relationship Maturity Model represents how the system grows —
a trajectory from Transactional to Strategic Partnership, embedded in how collaboration, trust, and shared ownership evolve over time.
Together, they make the 3-in-3 ecosystem a living model of partnership evolution, ensuring that as the product matures, so does the relationship that builds it.