--- title: "Constitution Canvas — Are Your Limits Real?" url: https://mkelango.com/diagnostics/constitution-canvas/ description: "A free six-question instrument: three Locks, three Loops. It reads whether the limits you say you hold are written, priced and binding — or decorative." site: mkelango.com author: M. K. Elango updated: 2026-08-26 evidence_standard: "Every figure carries a grade [A] verified / [B] claimed / [C] estimate and an as-at date. See https://mkelango.com/evidence/" --- Free · no email to start From The Constitution Engine # The Constitution Canvas Three Locks and three Loops. Six readings on whether your limits are written, priced and load-bearing — or decorative. - **Length:** 6 questions · about 3 minutes - **Scored out of:** 30 - **Benchmark:** 11 What it reads Whether the things you say you will not do are actually binding, and whether anything compounds because of them. From [The Constitution Engine](https://mkelango.com/books/constitution-engine/) · PROOF In short Updated 2026-08-26 The Constitution Canvas is a free six-question instrument that reads whether an organisation's limits are binding or decorative. It scores three Locks — the Limit, the Purpose Lock, the Refusal — and three Loops that compound only if the Locks are real, out of 30 against a published benchmark of 11. It runs in the browser in about three minutes. Why this one ## A constraint is cheapest, most credible and most binding at the exact moment it is least necessary. Most organisations have values. Almost none have Locks. A value is *we care about safety*. A Lock is *here is the threshold, here is the test that detects it, here is what happens when it fires, and here is who signs.* The difference shows up under pressure, which is the only time it matters. This instrument reads three Locks — the Limit, the Purpose Lock, the Refusal — and the three Loops that only turn if the Locks are real. Answer for what is written down and would survive a bad quarter, not for what everyone in the room believes. The book behind it The Constitution Engine The proof — and the correction. A five-year case that tests all five frameworks and reports where they break. Read the argument [The Constitution Engine](https://mkelango.com/books/constitution-engine/) Where this gets fixed The Moonshot Intensive Six months to a portfolio with a governance instrument — the constitution that outlives the meeting. The programme [The Moonshot Intensive](https://mkelango.com/programs/moonshot-intensive/) Method ## The benchmark, and how it was built. A score is only as good as the thing it is compared against. So the benchmark carries a grade and a method, exactly like every other figure on this site. The benchmark 11 /30 [C: Median reading across founders and principals asked these six questions in workshop settings. small sample, as at 26 August 2026. As at 26 August 2026] Median reading across founders and principals asked these six questions in workshop settings. Grade [C] — small sample, as at 26 August 2026. [A] Verified Traced to a primary source — a filing, an audited statement, a contract, a dataset held by us — and the source is named. [B] Claimed Reported by a credible party, including by us, but not independently traceable to a primary document. [C] Estimate Modelled, sampled or directionally derived. Method stated. Treat as a shape, not a number. [The Evidence Log](https://mkelango.com/evidence/) What we do with your result The score is computed in your browser. Nothing is transmitted unless you ask for the detailed report, and in that case only the score, the trait breakdown and your email address are stored. Your result is never published, sold, shared or attached to your name in any material. [Privacy](https://mkelango.com/privacy/) The questions ## All 6, published in full. Nothing is hidden behind the interaction. If you would rather read the instrument than run it — or run it on paper, in a room, with other people — here it is. **01 **The Limit** — Is there a number your business will not cross to make a quarter — written down, with the test that detects it and the person who signs?** Not a value. A ceiling. "No client above 20% of revenue." "No credit beyond 60 days." - 1 Nothing is written. We would decide in the moment - 2 A stated principle, but no number and no test - 3 A number exists, informally held by one or two people - 4 Written, with a number and a named owner - 5 Written, versioned, with the trigger, the evaluation and the signatory named **02 **The Purpose Lock** — How expensive would it be, structurally, to abandon the mission?** Not how unlikely — how expensive. Ownership, charter, board appointment rights. - 1 Costless. The owners could redirect it on a Monday - 2 Awkward but easy — it would need a conversation - 3 A shareholder agreement makes it inconvenient - 4 The charter or trust deed makes it materially expensive - 5 Structurally locked: a body with no financial stake controls the change **03 **The Refusal** — Can you name what you will not build, sell or monetise — and what each line has cost you?** A refusal with no price attached is a preference. - 1 No such list exists - 2 We have a sense of it, unwritten - 3 A written list, but no price beside any line - 4 A written list, and we can price some of it - 5 A written list, and we can name the revenue each line has cost **04 **The Trust Loop** — Does the constraint win you work you would otherwise lose?** The test: does a buyer choose you because of a limit you published? - 1 No. The constraint is pure cost - 2 It helps the story, not the sale - 3 It has closed one or two deals - 4 It is on the procurement checklist and we win on it - 5 It is why the regulated, mission-critical work comes to us at all **05 **The Recursive Loop** — Does what you sell make you faster at building the next thing you sell?** Not "we use our own product". Does R&D velocity depend on product quality? - 1 No connection at all - 2 We use our own product, but it changes nothing - 3 It saves some internal time - 4 It measurably shortens our build cycle - 5 Our next release is a direct function of the current one’s quality **06 **The Evidence Loop** — Do you publish what does not work — the failures, the limits, the corrections?** The counter-intuitive result: disclosure of limitation increases willingness to buy. - 1 No. We publish results only - 2 We admit limits privately, when asked - 3 Some caveats are published - 4 We publish a method and its known weaknesses - 5 We publish a dated corrections log, and buyers cite it Scored out of 30. Published benchmark 11. Method and grade above. The bands ## What each range means. Published before you take the test, so the reading cannot be tuned to flatter afterwards. 0–11 Values, not Locks What you have is a set of intentions, and intentions are renegotiated by whoever is in the room during a bad quarter. That is not a failure of character — almost nobody writes a limit at the moment it is free, because at that moment it seems unnecessary. It will never be this cheap again. 12–18 Written, not binding Something is on paper, and the missing pieces are usually the same three: no trigger that detects the breach, no named signatory, no version number. A limit without those is a sentence, not a Lock. Adding them costs a morning. 19–24 Locks holding, loops slack The constraints are real and survive contact with pressure. What is not yet happening is compounding — nothing is being won *because* of them. The Trust Loop is the one to start: find the buyer who chooses you for a limit you published, and make that limit legible in the sale. 25–30 An engine, not a brake Rare. The Locks are written, priced and versioned, and at least one Loop turns because of them. The remaining risk is the one this instrument cannot read: whether the Locks survive their first genuinely expensive test. A Lock renegotiated once is not a Lock — it is a preference. FAQ ## Questions about The Constitution Canvas Answered plainly, with the real figures. If something here is wrong, [tell us and it goes in the log](https://mkelango.com/evidence/). ### What is the difference between a value and a Lock? A value is "we care about safety". A Lock is "here is the threshold, here is the evaluation that detects it, here is what happens when it fires, and here is who signs". The difference only shows up under pressure, which is the only time it matters. The instrument scores the trigger, the test and the signatory separately. ### How is the Constitution Canvas scored? Six fields — the Limit, the Purpose Lock, the Refusal, and the Trust, Recursion and Evidence Loops — each on a five-level ladder, giving 30 points. The benchmark is 11, graded [C] from workshop sampling as at 26 August 2026. Bands are 0–11 values not Locks, 12–18 written but not binding, 19–24 Locks holding but loops slack, and 25–30 an engine rather than a brake. ### Is it free, and is an email required? It is free and no email is required to start. The score, the band, the benchmark and the weakest field are all shown immediately and in full. An email address is asked for only if you want the detailed worksheet afterwards, and the result is never published, sold or attached to your name. ### Which book does it come from? The Constitution Engine, the capstone of the Elango Stack, which is forthcoming and unpublished. The framework it tests — three Locks, three Loops, and the Cost Curve of Commitment — is complete, which is why the instrument can run before the book ships. The other instruments ## Five more, one per altitude. [All six](https://mkelango.com/diagnostics/) Free The AQ Score Where your organisation sits on the twelve properties that let a machine improve a million-fold in a decade. 12 questions · about 4 minutes [The AQ Score](https://mkelango.com/diagnostics/aq-score/) Free The Flywheel Locator Where your AI capability actually sits on the powertrain — and which part is holding the wheel. 6 questions · about 3 minutes [The Flywheel Locator](https://mkelango.com/diagnostics/flywheel-locator/) Free Do You Actually Have a Moonshot? Whether the thing at the top of your ladder is an objective you could be held to, or a sentence that sounds good in a deck. 7 questions · about 3 minutes [Do You Actually Have a Moonshot?](https://mkelango.com/diagnostics/moonshot-test/)