Common Language

The words WhyzMen uses, what each one means, and where it shows up. Type to filter.

Core term drawn in the Big Picture Borrowed frame another author’s model, used in one session Retired term WhyzMen now uses other words

Show retired terms

204 terms

Act I / Act II Retired term
Retired. In the room, always say first half / second half. The Knapsack appendix (Charter E.2) should be re-worded to match at the next Charter revision.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Where: S2 · S5 · App. E · Source: WhyzMen
Advice wearing a question mark
“Have you considered…?” is advice in disguise and breaks the Clearness rule.
Where: S11 · S12 · Source: WhyzMen
Agency · Belonging · Cause (the ABCs of Meaning)
The three places a man got meaning. A lifequake does not erase them; it reorders them.
Where: S3 · S11 · Source: Bruce Feiler, Life Is in the Transitions
anchor rope (for the triad’s purpose) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Our Purpose (the rope is the triad).
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Author, The · co-author
God is the Author; the man is the co-author. God authors and a man makes real choices within the story, "in all things God works for the good of those who love him" (Rom 8:28). Matches the middle-voice teaching. Never "God, the co-author."
Where: S5 → S6 · Source: WhyzMen; Rom 8:28
Avodah
The Hebrew word that means both work and worship. “The form of service changes. The calling does not.”
Where: S2 · S3 · Source: Hebrew (Scripture)
backpack Retired term
WhyzMen now says: the Knapsack (the pack).
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Barnabas Turn, The
S8 Practice of the Week. When a man runs himself down: hear it, turn it over, hand it back with a question.
Where: S8 · Source: Acts 4:36
Basecamp
Session 1: program overview, covenant and assessment. The doorway. One word, never “base camp”.
Where: S1 · Source: WhyzMen
Below the waterline
Theory the facilitator carries but never names to the room. See Iceberg Principle.
Where: All FGs · Source: WhyzMen
Benediction
The closing Scripture blessing of every session. Always "Benediction"; "A Sending" is retired so that "sent" is saved for S15's Commissioning.
Where: All · Source: WhyzMen
Big Picture, The Core term
The program artwork: first summit, the valley with the Harvest Tree, second summit, Jubilee at the peak, climbers roped and carrying packs. The one map every man keeps.
Where: S1 → all · Source: WhyzMen
Bridge, The
The worksheet "From Mission to First Mile." The mission (unnumbered) is the near bank; planks 1–4 lead to the first mile, which is crossed together in the room. The name is reserved for this worksheet alone. The S5 slide is "Into the Harvest Charter," the movement is "The Hand-off," and the verb survives only in "mourn to bridge."
Where: S12 → S13 · Source: WhyzMen
Bridges’ transition model (Ending · Neutral Zone · New Beginning) Borrowed frame
William Bridges' descriptions of each phase sit under Feiler's three phases on S3 s19 (October 16). Participant materials say "the Messy Middle," not "Neutral Zone"; Bridges' own terms appear only where the facilitator guide explains Bridges.
Where: S1 · S3 · Source: William Bridges, Transitions
Brotherhood · brothers
The men of the cohort and, from S10, a man’s triad. “One story for your brothers.” Middle word of the program byline.
Where: S1 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen
Buford's box Retired term
WhyzMen now says: the one thing in the box.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Building · Cracking · Revealing
The container in three moves. The first half builds it (also called the scaffolding, or the provisional personality); the second half breaks it open and reveals what it always held. The second half is not a new container: it has an architecture, written down in the Harvest Charter. Never "filling."
Where: S3 · Source: After Rohr; 2 Cor 4:7
Callback
A slide banner that brings back an earlier session’s idea, e.g. “CALLBACK · THE KNAPSACK · FROM SESSION 1.”
Where: S3 → S14 · Source: WhyzMen
Caring Shift, The (§1.4)
What you cared about most at forty, what you care about now, and when it changed. “Strengths give you capacity. Caring gives you direction.” Charter §1.4, not §1.5.
Where: S8 · Source: WhyzMen (after Carstensen)
Charter Advance
In-room warm-up writing toward a Charter section.
Where: S2 · Source: WhyzMen
Charter at a Glance
One page from every man, read by the pastors before the blessing. Due March 1 (October 16).
Where: S14 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen
Charter Bridge · “The Bridge” (as a movement name) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Into the Harvest Charter · The Hand-off · "Transition:" (FG label).
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Charter Sprint
The writing push during the Wilderness Between that finishes Part One.
Where: Interval · Source: WhyzMen
Charter, The — Harvest Charter Core term
A man's personal constitution in four parts: Foundation · Vision · Action · Legacy. Always "the Harvest Charter" (or "the Charter" after first use) — never a workbook or binder. Version 11 is current. Lower-case "triad charter" is a different thing.
Where: S1 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen
chasm · crossing · the gap (for the valley); Neutral Zone (in participant materials) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: the valley · the Messy Middle.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Clearness Committee
Parker Palmer’s original practice. In WhyzMen, the longer full-committee format offered on request.
Where: S11 · Source: Parker Palmer, A Hidden Wholeness
Clearness Room
A triad practice. One man speaks his question or mission; the others ask only honest, open questions and never advise. Demonstrated at S11, run by triads in Clearness Week.
Where: S11 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen (after Palmer)
Clearness Room Guide
The handout for running a Clearness Room in the triad. One name only — not "Triad Guide" or "Clearness Room: Triad Guide."
Where: S11 → Clearness Week · Source: WhyzMen
Clearness Week
The no-class week (Feb 15) when each triad runs its own Clearness Room on each man’s mission. Not “Field Week” or “T-shirt week.”
Where: S11 → S12 · Source: WhyzMen
CliftonStrengths
Gallup's talent assessment: the Top 5 report ($24, gallup.com). Assigned at the close of S7, taken after S7, results used in S8. Gallup sorts the themes into four groups it calls domains; in the room say "Gallup's four groups," with a footnote that Gallup calls them domains.
Where: S7 → S8 · Source: Gallup (Don Clifton)
Cloudy / Clear
Self-rating for a mission draft. “Cloudy is a permitted answer.” Mark it, take it to your triad, return in ninety days.
Where: S11 · Source: WhyzMen; Rom 8:1
Commission (rung 1)
“I have been sent to ___.” The one rung of the mission that names the Sender.
Where: S11 · Source: After Bolles
Commission row
Row six of the Convergence Board: the gifts the body names, with an instance beside each.
Where: S8 → S9 · Source: WhyzMen
Commissioning
S15: he speaks, his triad stands, the pastor blesses. “Blessing, not evaluation.”
Where: S15 · Source: Acts 13:3
Compass
A compass points: it means a man's values (S7 Values Compass) and his Life Theme (§1.1c), nothing else. The Rule of Life is a trellis, not a compass.
Where: S6 · S7 · Source: WhyzMen
Compass Worksheet (§1.1c My Life Theme & Compass)
Workview and Lifeview essays read against each other and carved into a Life Theme. “The essays are the marble; §1.1c is the carving.”
Where: S6 · Source: After Burnett & Evans
Container to Charter (the crosswalk)
The S1 slides that show each brick of the container, what retirement takes, and the Charter section that rebuilds it.
Where: S1 · Source: WhyzMen
Container, The
Rohr's first-half structure of identity, boundaries, security and roles: built, cracked, revealed. Lives S1–S3. Two named callbacks point back to the original, cracked container: the S9 Rohr quote and the S15 bookend ("walked in carrying a container"). There is no second container; S10 says "build the architecture" and "the triad charter is the frame that holds it".
Where: S1 – S3 · Source: Richard Rohr, Falling Upward (2011)
Contribution (rung 2)
“I do ___ for ___ so that ___.” The working sentence of the mission.
Where: S11 · Source: WhyzMen
Contribution Hypothesis
Clause two of the S8 sentence: “…which makes me suspect I am meant to ___ for ___.” A guess to be tested. It is not the mission.
Where: S8 → S11 · Source: WhyzMen
Convener
The man in the triad whose only job is to send the first text for the triad project.
Where: S13 · Source: WhyzMen
Convergence Board, The
S8’s one page with six rows: Wiring · Character · Non-negotiables · Trained Hand · Direction · Commission. “A convergence test, not a summary sheet.” Row six is filled at S9.
Where: S8 → S9 · Source: WhyzMen
Core Two
A man's two core values, his non-negotiables (§1.2). Always two, never five. The two interval requirements in S9 are "the two musts," not non-negotiables.
Where: S7 · Source: WhyzMen (after Brené Brown)
Couples Conversation
S3 homework debriefed at S4: surprises, agreements, misalignments with his wife.
Where: S3 → S4 · Source: WhyzMen
Covenant, Our
Six starting elements the cohort enters at S1: Confidentiality · Presence over Performance · Listening before Fixing · Punctuality & Follow-Through · Honesty with Grace · Prayer for One Another. “Rules are imposed; covenants are entered.”
Where: S1 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen (after Priya Parker)
Covenant, The Room’s
The five lines read before every Clearness Room: “We are here to listen, not to fix…”
Where: S11 · Source: WhyzMen
Curated, not invented
WhyzMen does not paint the pictures. It picks what is true and hangs it where a man can stand in front of it.
Where: S1 · Source: WhyzMen
Digital Companion · the website · reference layer Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Reader's Companion.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Direction · Strategy · Plan (as Charter parts) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Foundation · Vision · Action · Legacy.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Domain Grid
S7 pre-work: candidate values sorted across the Ten Domains, with a star for each non-negotiable.
Where: S7 · Source: WhyzMen
Domain Why’s, Ten
One line of Why for each domain, drafted with My Next Chapter.
Where: S8 → Interval · Source: WhyzMen
Domains of Life — the Ten Domains Core term
The ten areas where life happens, and the ten fruit on the Harvest Tree. Always "domains," never "fields." Use the full canonical names with "&" wherever a domain is named (October 16); order and names are on the last page. The three chosen at S13 are the priority domains.
Where: S1 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen
Dunbar’s layers · “your five” Borrowed frame
Friendship circles of about 5 · 15 · 50 · 150. “Your five” is a man’s inner circle of men.
Where: S10 · Source: Robin Dunbar, Friends
Engine · Fuel · Steering Borrowed frame
S7 picture. Strengths are the engine, story is the fuel, values are the steering. Used in S7 only.
Where: S7 · Source: WhyzMen
Enneagram Retired term
WhyzMen now says: — removed from the program.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Equipping
The valley work that readies a man for the climb: the harvesting and replanting. “He does not climb the second summit on leftover strength.”
Where: S1 · S3 · Source: WhyzMen
Essential Few, The
S13: choosing the few things that get your best. “Choosing the essential few is choosing your particular life.”
Where: S13 · Source: After Greg McKeown
Essentialism Filter (§2.1b)
The three things your mission tells you to decline.
Where: S11 → S13 · Source: WhyzMen (after McKeown)
Essentialism · “Less, but better” · the 90% rule
“If it isn’t a clear yes, it’s a no.” Taught at S13.
Where: S11 · S13 · Source: Greg McKeown, Essentialism
Ethical Will
See Spiritual Testament. The Tier 2 expansion is Appendix K · Ethical Will, Expanded.
Where: S14 · Source: Jewish tradition (tzava’ah)
Evidence, not admiration
The witnessing rule: “I saw you ___ when ___.” One instance, attached.
Where: S8 → S9 · S14 · Source: WhyzMen
Fellowship Gap, The
Session 10. Second-half friendships do not break; they thin. “A design problem, not a character problem.” This is the only approved program use of “gap.”
Where: S10 · Source: WhyzMen
Field Report
S7 homework: share your two values with your wife or a close friend, ask “Do you see this in me?”, and bring back the answer.
Where: S7 → S8 · Source: WhyzMen
Field Tests, Three
S11: The T-shirt · Two Doors · Three Conversations. “Go get five reactions.”
Where: S11 → S13 · Source: WhyzMen (after Burnett & Evans)
Field Week · T-shirt week · clearness style Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Clearness Week · Clearness Room.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
fields; the Ten Fields Retired term
WhyzMen now says: domains; the Ten Domains.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
filling (the container) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: revealing.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Find Your Circle Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Finding Your Circle.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
First Fruits
The cohort dinner with wives about a month after S15. It honors what grew without pretending the orchard is finished.
Where: S13 → S15 · Source: Leviticus 23:10
First Steps Card
The S13 card. Side A: My Essential Few. Side B: First Steps.
Where: S13 → S14 · Source: WhyzMen
First summit Core term
The career climb of the first half: success, metrics, ladder.
Where: S1 · Source: WhyzMen
five core values, ranked Retired term
WhyzMen now says: two core values.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Five Gates, The
The S11 mission self-check: Recital · Why · Charge · No · Signature. Paired with the Felt Sense.
Where: S11 → S12 · Source: WhyzMen
Five Losses, The
Identity · Structure · Relationships · Mastery · Purpose. "Name to mourn. Mourn to bridge." The fifth loss is Mastery, never Power: the thing or things you got good at doing and now have no place to do. On the S1 crosswalk, Mastery is what retirement takes from lane 7, Competence & Fluid Intelligence; some of it comes back converted as wisdom.
Where: S1 → S3 · S15 · Source: WhyzMen (after Haylett)
Five Weighing Questions
The S13 evaluation (§2.0). The fifth question: “What in my life would look no different if Christ were not in me?”
Where: S13 · Source: WhyzMen
Flourishing Signs, The
In §2.2, the signs you would recognise if you were living it, each labelled with its canonical domain (October 16). Circle three you already live and one you are reaching for. The Charter table is the source; S12 s7 shows eight as a sample.
Where: S12 · Source: WhyzMen
Fluid → Crystallized intelligence Borrowed frame
Raw speed peaks early. Accumulated wisdom rises through life. “Design, not decline.”
Where: S1 – S3 · Source: Arthur C. Brooks, From Strength to Strength
Focus-Man Protocol
The seven steps of one Clearness Room round: Frame · He speaks · Silence · Open questions · Mirror & affirm · He responds · Close & seal.
Where: S11 · Source: WhyzMen (after Palmer)
Forgotten Range, My (§1.1b)
The capacities you never got paid for. “The range is the insight.”
Where: S7 – S8 · Source: After David Epstein, Range
the four domains (Gallup) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Gallup's four groups.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Four Phases of Retirement
Vacation · Loss · Trial & Error · Reinvent. "Name your phase silently." Moynes' phases overlap Feiler's three phases of the transition, with direct parallels (Loss ↔ the Long Goodbye, Trial & Error ↔ the Messy Middle, Reinvent ↔ the New Beginning).
Where: S2 · S3 · Source: Riley Moynes (TEDx)
Galatians Test, The
“Would this sentence still be true, and worth ten years of my life, if Christ were not in me? Rewrite it until the answer is no.” Charter §3.1b.
Where: S11 · S13 · Source: Galatians 2:20
Gauges (Readiness gauges)
The Retirement Readiness Assessment read as a dashboard, not a report card. “You don’t shame a fuel gauge for reading low.”
Where: S1 → S2 · S13 · Source: WhyzMen
Generativity
The drive to care for the next generation. “The Drive Has a Name.”
Where: S11 · Source: Erik Erikson
Gleaning
Generosity built into the harvest itself.
Where: S13 · Source: Leviticus 19:9–10
Go Deeper · Read Deeper · ReadDeeper Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Going Deeper.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
God, the co-author Retired term
WhyzMen now says: God is the Author; the man is the co-author.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Golden Circle (Why → How → What) Borrowed frame
Sinek's idea behind WhyzMen's name: "Your What flows from your Why." One line on S11 s7 credits it — the mission is the Why put to work (October 16). Also printed in PG1 ("More on the Why").
Where: S1 (PG) · S11 · Source: Simon Sinek, Start with Why
Great Listener Card
“Curious, not clever; present, not preparing; slow, not solving.” Part of the Listening Kit.
Where: S10 → S12 · Source: WhyzMen
the Grove · branches = domains Retired term
WhyzMen now says: the orchard · ten fruit = the Ten Domains.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Guide Cards
The pocket communication-skill cards in the front of the notebook, for home, others and triads.
Where: Toolkit · Source: WhyzMen
Halftime Borrowed frame
Bob Buford's frame for the midlife turn. Quotes are fine; it is not taught as a frame. These men are already retired, so it appears mainly as part of the curator's history. "The one thing in the box," not "Buford's box."
Where: S1 · S11 · S13 (quotes) · Source: Bob Buford, Halftime
Harvest Tree, The Core term
Soil = Faith · roots = what formed you (story, values, strengths) · trunk = who you are, your core · ten fruit = the Ten Domains · tending = the daily work (the Rule of Life is its trellis) · orchard = the brotherhood · sun = Jubilee overhead. Not "the Grove," not "fields," not "branches = domains."
Where: S1 → S15 · Source: Psalm 92:14
The Harvest · Full Group Harvest (for a debrief) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: What Surfaced · Full-Group Debrief.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Harvest, The
The valley season: a man harvests the first half, tends its seeds and fruit, and is equipped for the climb ("Harvest the First Half," S9). At the second summit a second harvest comes: the shared abundance of everyone's gifts. Never the name of a debrief — debriefs are "What Surfaced" or "Full-Group Debrief."
Where: S1 · S9 · Source: WhyzMen; Gal 6:9
his valley (for a personal low point) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: a valley moment.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Iceberg Principle
One-eighth shows above the water: what to do. Seven-eighths sits below: why, theory and research, which the facilitators carry.
Where: S1 · Source: WhyzMen (after Hemingway)
Jubilee Core term
The peak of the Big Picture. Release and abundance under God’s hand: rest, giving back, forgiving debts, with provision promised before the release. Jubilee is the destination; significance is only the direction.
Where: S1 → S15 · Source: Leviticus 25
Jubilee question, The
“What has God prepared in advance for me to do — and what must I set down to walk into it?”
Where: S13 · Source: Ephesians 2:10
Kitchen Table Conversation
S4 homework: twenty minutes with your wife on rhythms for the next season — protect, release, build together.
Where: S4 → S5 · Source: WhyzMen
Knapsack, The — the pack Core term
What a man carries into the second half, chosen by weight (the plane crash at 8,000 feet). Always "the Knapsack" (the pack), never "backpack". Values ride in the top pocket from Basecamp; the One Thing joins them at S11. The conversions pocket at the bottom holds Wisdom · Both/And · Rope Team · Legacy; the rope hangs outside. "A pack is measured not by what it holds but by what it makes you leave." Callbacks S3, S5, S7, S8, S9, S11, S14; culmination S13; audit in Charter Appendix E.
Where: S1 → S14 · App. E · Source: WhyzMen; Heb 12:1
Life Map
S5: your life drawn as a landscape with chapter titles, “peaks and valleys, not a straight line.”
Where: S5 → S6 · Source: WhyzMen
Lifequake Borrowed frame
A life-altering disruption. It names the event; Moynes names the stages. The Messy Middle may also be described as a lifequake or a liminal space.
Where: S3 · Source: Bruce Feiler
Listening before fixing
Covenant line and the one rule of every triad. “Do you want help, or just to be heard?”
Where: S1 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen
Listening Kit
From S10: Great Listener Card, Listening vs Fixing, the Month 1 question and the first-meeting run sheet.
Where: S10 · Source: WhyzMen
Long Goodbye · Messy Middle · New Beginning Borrowed frame
Feiler's three phases of a life transition, taught on S3 s19 with Bridges' descriptions under each (October 16). Moynes' four phases overlap them.
Where: S3 · Source: Bruce Feiler, Life Is in the Transitions; after William Bridges
Marriage & Shared Vision section (of the Charter) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Marriage Shared Vision worksheet → Appendix C.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
The Marriage It Lands In Retired term
WhyzMen now says: The Marriage Retirement Lands In.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Marriage Shared Vision worksheet
The S4 worksheet a couple completes together. Its result can be added to Charter Appendix C under Marriage & Family. Not a Charter section of its own.
Where: S4 → S5 · Source: WhyzMen
Meaning Audit
A hundred points spread across Agency · Belonging · Cause to find the largest shortfall.
Where: S3 · S11 · Source: WhyzMen (after Feiler)
Men Engaging Retirement · MER Retired term
WhyzMen now says: WhyzMen · Rewire Retirement.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Messy Middle, The Core term
Session 3's name for how the valley feels as it is lived, and the middle of Feiler's three phases (the Long Goodbye · the Messy Middle · the New Beginning). Normal, necessary, experimental. May be explained as a liminal space or a lifequake. Participant materials never say "Neutral Zone."
Where: S3 · Source: Feiler’s term, adopted
Middle voice Borrowed frame
Greek grammar used as a teaching device: the actor and the acted-upon at once. A man co-authors his story and is being authored.
Where: S5 · Source: Greek grammar
Mission — Personal Mission Statement (§2.1)
Three rungs: Commission · Contribution · T-shirt. Drafted at S11, heard in Clearness Week, checked at S12, final at S13.
Where: S11 → S13 · Source: WhyzMen
Monthly Question Arc
The triad’s year of questions, climbing from easy to deep.
Where: S10 · Source: WhyzMen (after Shasta Nelson)
My Next Chapter
The interval draft of direction, seeded by the Contribution Hypothesis and joined by the Ten Domain Why’s.
Where: Interval → S11 · Source: WhyzMen
Named by the Body
S9: men at the table name each other’s gifts with evidence. “The common good gets a vote.”
Where: S9 · Source: 1 Corinthians 12:7
Naming the Gift
S8 homework. Eleven gift words and an evidence rule: “No instance, no claim.” There is no inventory to take.
Where: S8 → S9 · Source: WhyzMen; Rom 12, 1 Pet 4
Navigate Transition · Build Brotherhood · Ignite Jubilee; Celebrating Jubilee Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Navigating Transition · Building Brotherhood · Igniting Jubilee.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Navigating Transition · Building Brotherhood · Igniting Jubilee
The program byline: middle dots, no terminal period. Confirmed October 16, 2026 — the "-ing" form everywhere. Not "Navigate · Build · Ignite" and not "Celebrating Jubilee."
Where: All · Source: WhyzMen
a new / second container (S10) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: build the architecture · the frame that holds it.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
North Star
The facilitator-guide line on what a man must feel, discover or decide before he leaves the room.
Where: All FGs · Source: WhyzMen
“Not a Cage. A Compass.” (for the Rule) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: “Not a Cage. A Trellis.”.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Odyssey Plan Borrowed frame
Three alternative five-year lives. A mention only, offered as "if you want to stretch your imagination" — it is not taught.
Where: S3 · S2 (PW) · Source: Burnett & Evans, Designing Your Life
One level deeper
S12 Practice of the Week: take a conversation one step past the usual. Credit Bradford & Robin, not Arthur Aron.
Where: S12 · Source: David Bradford & Carole Robin, Connect
One Thing, The
The single thing that goes into the top pocket at S11, beside the values already there.
Where: S11 → S13 · Source: After Bob Buford
Opportunity Map
Sorts the places men can serve by who they serve. Your “for” blank picks the row; your T-shirt verbs pick the column.
Where: S11 → S13 · Source: WhyzMen
Orphan Value
A non-negotiable you have no reliable way of delivering: “a gap in practice, not a gap in character.”
Where: S8 → S13 · Source: WhyzMen
Pack Test, The
Subtract · Select · Shoulder, then four questions for anything that wants a place in the pack.
Where: S13 · Source: WhyzMen
Particularity
“The ultimate is only accessible in the particular” — this sunset, this conversation, God here now. A thread that runs through the program.
Where: S2 → S15 · Source: After Burnett & Evans; Ps 46:10
Parts One–Four (Foundation · Vision · Action · Legacy)
The four parts of the Charter. Who am I? Where am I going? How will I get there? What outlasts me? Not "Direction," "Strategy" or "Plan."
Where: S1 → S15 · Source: Charter v11
Pastoral Review & Blessing
The pastor reads the Charter for three things only: Ground · Rhythm · Open hand.
Where: S15 · Source: WhyzMen
plank 0 · planks 0–4 · plank 5 Retired term
WhyzMen now says: the mission (unnumbered) · planks 1–4 · the first mile.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Polarities Borrowed frame
S4: tensions a couple keeps rebalancing for life. “Not battles to win.”
Where: S4 · Source: Barry Johnson, Polarity Management
Power (as the fifth loss) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Mastery.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Practice of the Week
One small relational practice each week, on a card with a tracker. “Ten seconds a day. One story for your brothers.” “This is your Rule of Life at work.”
Where: S2 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen
Priority domains
The three domains that “ride heavy” this season. The other seven ride light.
Where: S13 (§3.1) · Source: WhyzMen
Provisional → True
The provisional self of the first half gives way to the true self: role to essence, building to discovering.
Where: S1 → S15 · Source: After Hollis and Palmer
Re-entry, not recap
The opening principle: men talk before they are taught.
Where: S3 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen
Read My Story
S6: reading §1.1 aloud in threes for the turns and the thread.
Where: S6 · Source: WhyzMen
Reader's Companion
The online reference layer for optional depth. Use this name until the website is running; not "Digital Companion," "the website" or "reference layer."
Where: S2 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen
Readings: Required · Going Deeper
Two reading tiers. “Required first. Going Deeper only if it calls to you.” One spelling: Going Deeper.
Where: All · Source: WhyzMen
Redemption / Contamination Borrowed frame
“The story that frees” vs “the story that binds.”
Where: S6 · Source: Dan McAdams
Retirement Readiness Assessment
A self-inventory, not a test. It produces the gauges.
Where: S1 → S2 · S13 · Source: WhyzMen
Rewire Retirement
The name of the program. WhyzMen is the name of the group.
Where: All · Source: WhyzMen
rhythm (for the triad's meetings) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: check-in schedule.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Rope, The Core term
The triad, full stop. "Nobody climbs unroped." A cord of three strands. The triad's purpose cell is "Our Purpose," not "anchor rope."
Where: S1 named · S10 formed · S13 Rope Up · Source: Ecclesiastes 4:12
Rule of Life
A trellis, not a cage: a statement of chosen identity lived out in four rhythms (daily · weekly · monthly · seasonal), each with a cue and a two-minute version. Each line reads "Since I am ___, I intend to ___" — e.g. "Since I am a loving grandfather, I will talk with each grandchild one to one every two weeks." One name only; "your Rule" after first use. Introduced S4 → built S13 (§3.1c) → tended S14.
Where: S4 → S13 (§3.1c) → S14 · Source: Benedict’s regula; Macchia
Satellite Sessions
As-needed sessions on practicalities and Charter-writing workshops. Home of domains 9 and 10.
Where: S1 · Source: WhyzMen
Save the seed
“Legacy is not the fruit you eat. It is the seed you hand forward.”
Where: S14 · Source: WhyzMen; Ps 78:4–6
Scaffolding · provisional personality
Other names for the first-half structure: useful while the building went up, not meant to stay. Point back to the container; do not make a new one.
Where: S1 – S3 · S10 · Source: WhyzMen (after Rohr, Hollis)
second mountain (in our own voice) · third mountain Retired term
WhyzMen now says: second summit (say “second mountain” only when quoting Brooks).
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Second summit Core term
The second-half climb toward significance, meaning and legacy: a different mountain, climbed for different reasons. The climb is the journey; the second summit is the place. Say "second mountain" only when quoting David Brooks. Never "third mountain."
Where: S1 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen
A Sending (closing slide) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Benediction (keep “sent” for S15’s Commissioning).
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Sending (S13 Move 8) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Step Out.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
“Session 1: Falling Upward” Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Session 1: Basecamp.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Seven Open Whys
Purpose · Calling · Identity · Faith · Brotherhood · Legacy · Presence. Pick one Why to test.
Where: S1 → S3 · Source: WhyzMen
Shed · Experiment · Write
The three moves that cross the Messy Middle.
Where: S3 · Source: WhyzMen (after Feiler)
short domain names (Faith, Recreation, Friends, Joy…) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: the full canonical names with "&".
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Signature, The
Clause one of the S8 sentence: “At my best, I am the man who ___.” The capstone of §1.3.
Where: S8 · Source: WhyzMen
Signed and witnessed
S15: “Your brothers are not signing that your Charter is correct. They are signing that they watched you write it.”
Where: S15 · Source: WhyzMen; Ruth 4:11
significance (as the destination) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Jubilee (significance is the direction).
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Skills Harvest from the First Mountain
The S8 block that gathers the trained hand of the first half. Kept as named; "mountain" here stands for the first half's climb.
Where: S8 · Source: WhyzMen
small group · accountability group · trios (for the triad); "triad" before S10 Retired term
WhyzMen now says: triad (from S10); threes or your table (before S10); pairs are fine for two-man exercises.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Small, cheap, reversible
The standard for any experiment. “A prototype, not a resolution.”
Where: S2 → S13 · Source: After Burnett & Evans
Spiritual Gifts Inventory Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Naming the Gift.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Spiritual Testament
The ethical will written as a Christian, in six movements. It sits in §4.1 and grows in Appendix K.
Where: S14 · Source: WhyzMen (after the ethical will)
Stage 1 / Stage 2 Retired term
WhyzMen now says: S1 – S15.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Step Out
Move 8 of S13, the closing movement that sends the men toward the first mile.
Where: S13 · Source: WhyzMen
Subtraction · subtraction neglect (§3.0)
Under load we add and fail to consider removing. §3.0 is “My Subtractions.”
Where: S1 named · S13 taught · Source: Leidy Klotz, Subtract
T-shirt, The (rung 3)
Three or four verbs you can say from memory, under pressure. Compression comes last.
Where: S11 → S13 · Source: WhyzMen
Tending the Charter
The light rhythm after S15. Amended, never erased: date the change and leave the old line visible.
Where: S15 · Source: WhyzMen
Three Good Things
Tell one person a good thing from today, and how it came about.
Where: S9 · Interval · Source: Martin Seligman
Three Markers
Peak Moment · Valley Moment · Turning Point (not "The Turn"). The three scenes that shaped who you became, and the raw material for §1.1.
Where: S2 → S7 · Source: After McAdams (“nuclear episodes”)
Threshold, My (§1.0)
Four lines: what I am setting down · carrying forward · what still deserves mourning · what I am asking Christ to carry.
Where: S1 → S3 · S9 · Source: WhyzMen
tonight Retired term
WhyzMen now says: this morning.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Trained Hand, The
Row four of the Convergence Board: the three verbs you would keep doing if no one ever paid you again.
Where: S8 · Source: WhyzMen
Trellis
The image for the Rule of Life: “It doesn’t restrict growth; it gives it something to climb.”
Where: S4 · S13 · S14 · Source: From regula
Triad Core term
Three men (four allowed, two not), formed at S10. It is the rope. Before S10, say "threes" or "your table"; two-man pair exercises are fine (October 16). S2's "Your Rope Team" looks ahead to the triads. Not small group, not trios. The triad keeps a "check-in schedule"; "rhythm" belongs to the Rule.
Where: S10 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen; Eccl 4:12
Triad charter
Six decisions that make a triad work: People · Rhythm · Activity · Progression · Purpose · Commitment. Write it lower-case so it is not confused with the Charter.
Where: S10 · Source: WhyzMen
Triad Guide · Clearness Room: Triad Guide Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Clearness Room Guide.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Triad Project
One outing of about three hours, done together, chosen from the spring menu.
Where: S13 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen
Tuesday in 2031, A (§2.2)
One page, in the present tense, about an ordinary Tuesday five years out. “Do not write in domains. Write a day.” It is the Tier 1 vision.
Where: S12 → S13 · Source: WhyzMen
The Turn Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Turning Point.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
two non-negotiables (the S9 interval requirements) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: the two musts.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Two Summits Core term
What the Big Picture shows: two halves, two summits, one map.
Where: S1 · Source: WhyzMen
Two things finished beats seven started
The homework principle.
Where: S4 → S6 · Source: WhyzMen
Two Witnesses · Witness 1 / 2 (S3 authors) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Two Voices, One Passage.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Two-Hour Clearing, The
Two hours a week taken off the calendar now, as the first entry in §3.0.
Where: S8 · Source: WhyzMen
Unfinished Shelf, The
The fourteen Tier 2 appendices of the Charter, A–N as titled in Charter v11, presented as five books. "Nothing on this shelf is assigned."
Where: S14 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen
Valley, The Core term
The place between the summits, where a man regroups, decides what to carry, plants, harvests and is equipped. "Where the work happens." A man's personal low point is always a valley moment, never "his valley". Never "chasm" or "crossing."
Where: S1 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen
Values Compass, The
S7: narrowing a list of candidate values to two core values that point true north.
Where: S7 · Source: WhyzMen
VIA Character Strengths
Twenty-four character strengths under six virtues. Values say where; strengths say how.
Where: S6 → S8 · Source: Peterson & Seligman
Weekly Rhythms & Habits (Appendix F) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: My Rule of Life (Appendix L).
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
What Surfaced
The name for an in-room debrief, S5 and S6. S7's is the "Full-Group Debrief." Debriefs are never called "the Harvest."
Where: S5 · S6 · S7 · Source: WhyzMen
Where. Who. Never Why.
The rule for witness questions. “Why makes a man defend; Where and Who make him locate.”
Where: S8 → S9 · Source: WhyzMen
WhyzMen
The name of the group: WhyzMen sounds like Wise Men. Rewire Retirement is the name of the program.
Where: All · Source: WhyzMen
Wilderness Between, The
The three-week interval after S10 (Jan 19 – Feb 7): Rest & Gratitude · First Triad Meeting · Direction. It names the calendar interval only, never a place on the map.
Where: Interval · Source: WhyzMen
Wisdom Orbit, The
Why at the center, with What · How · Test · When · Where · Who orbiting it. Wisdom is all of it, integrated and shared.
Where: S1 · Source: WhyzMen
Wise Men Seek (without “Still”); Whys Retired term
WhyzMen now says: Wise Men Still Seek, Knowing Their Why’s.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Wise Men Still Seek, Knowing Their Why’s
The group byline, with no terminal period. Not “Wise Men Seek” and not “Whys.”
Where: All · Source: WhyzMen
Witness
Tier 2 program word with one meaning: the man who says back what he saw (evidence, not admiration) and never fixes. The sentence is "What I heard you say was ___." S14 and S15 deliberately use "What I heard you value was ___" for letters and testaments. S3's author slides are "Two Voices, One Passage," not witnesses.
Where: S5 → S15 · Source: WhyzMen
workbook / binder (for the Charter) Retired term
WhyzMen now says: the Charter.
This term may still be useful, but WhyzMen has chosen to standardize on other language.
Working the Harvest
Four motions: Choose the Fruit · Know Your Tools · Do the Daily Work · Gather the Fruit.
Where: S2 · S8 · Source: WhyzMen

From the Common Language Index. Open the full Index, which also lists the session names, the Ten Domains and the Charter section map.

Common Language

Act I / Act II Retired term

Advice wearing a question mark

Agency · Belonging · Cause (the ABCs of Meaning)

anchor rope (for the triad’s purpose) Retired term

Author, The · co-author

Avodah

backpack Retired term

Barnabas Turn, The

Basecamp

Below the waterline

Benediction

Big Picture, The Core term

Bridge, The

Bridges’ transition model (Ending · Neutral Zone · New Beginning) Borrowed frame

Brotherhood · brothers

Buford's box Retired term

Building · Cracking · Revealing

Callback

Caring Shift, The (§1.4)

Charter Advance

Charter at a Glance

Charter Bridge · “The Bridge” (as a movement name) Retired term

Charter Sprint

Charter, The — Harvest Charter Core term

chasm · crossing · the gap (for the valley); Neutral Zone (in participant materials) Retired term

Clearness Committee

Clearness Room

Clearness Room Guide

Clearness Week

CliftonStrengths

Cloudy / Clear

Commission (rung 1)

Commission row

Commissioning

Compass

Compass Worksheet (§1.1c My Life Theme & Compass)

Container to Charter (the crosswalk)

Container, The

Contribution (rung 2)

Contribution Hypothesis

Convener

Convergence Board, The

Core Two

Couples Conversation

Covenant, Our

Covenant, The Room’s

Curated, not invented

Digital Companion · the website · reference layer Retired term

Direction · Strategy · Plan (as Charter parts) Retired term

Domain Grid

Domain Why’s, Ten

Domains of Life — the Ten Domains Core term

Dunbar’s layers · “your five” Borrowed frame

Engine · Fuel · Steering Borrowed frame

Enneagram Retired term

Equipping

Essential Few, The

Essentialism Filter (§2.1b)

Essentialism · “Less, but better” · the 90% rule

Ethical Will

Evidence, not admiration

Fellowship Gap, The

Field Report

Field Tests, Three

Field Week · T-shirt week · clearness style Retired term

fields; the Ten Fields Retired term

filling (the container) Retired term

Find Your Circle Retired term

First Fruits

First Steps Card

First summit Core term

five core values, ranked Retired term

Five Gates, The

Five Losses, The

Five Weighing Questions

Flourishing Signs, The

Fluid → Crystallized intelligence Borrowed frame

Focus-Man Protocol

Forgotten Range, My (§1.1b)