Behavioral envelopes (work in progress)
Work in progress. A framework we are developing for checking whether an agent acting for a person stays within what the organization and the person accept. Diagrams and terms will change.
Defining behavioral envelopes: Provider | Organization | Individual
Suppose an agent books a work trip for a person and handles what comes up along the way. Each envelope wants something different. Here are four things the agent could be asked to do.
| Option | Provider | Travel policy | Person | What the agent does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1An economy flight on the person's preferred airline, with a window seat | allows | allows | wants | Inside all three envelopes, so the agent acts. |
| 2Business class | allows | forbids | wants | Stop and escalate. What the person wants does not override the travel policy. |
| 3The cheapest fare, a red-eye flight | allows | allows | does not want | Ask the person first. |
| 4The airline loses the bag. File the claim for more than was in it | refuses (fraud) | forbids | wants | Stop. The travel policy forbids false claims, so this holds whichever model is running. The provider's refusal is a backstop. |
- 1An economy flight on the person's preferred airline, with a window seat
Provider: allows · Travel policy: allows · Person: wants
Inside all three envelopes, so the agent acts.
- 2Business class
Provider: allows · Travel policy: forbids · Person: wants
Stop and escalate. What the person wants does not override the travel policy.
- 3The cheapest fare, a red-eye flight
Provider: allows · Travel policy: allows · Person: does not want
Ask the person first.
- 4The airline loses the bag. File the claim for more than was in it
Provider: refuses (fraud) · Travel policy: forbids · Person: wants
Stop. The travel policy forbids false claims, so this holds whichever model is running. The provider's refusal is a backstop.
The three envelopes overlap, and they can pull in different directions.
- Provider
- What the model will not do, no matter what anyone allows. This includes safety and legal limits, such as no fraud. These limits can differ from one model to the next, so they work as a backstop. An organization may allow something that the model still refuses to do.
- Organization
- The rules of the organization where the agent works. Here, that means the travel and expense policy, such as economy only and honest claims.
- Individual
- What the person wants and expects from the agent. These are their preferences, such as a window seat and no red-eye flights.
Acting on someone's behalf means acting where all three overlap. The person's say-so does not let an action go outside the other two.
If an outcome is inside both the organization's and the person's envelopes, the agent acts. If the organization allows it but the person does not want it, the agent asks the person first. If the person wants it but the organization does not allow it, the agent stops and escalates. If neither does, the agent stops. No one can approve a false claim. The organization's policy forbids it, so the agent stops whichever model is running. The provider's refusal is a backstop, not a substitute for that rule.
So what does it really mean to work on someone's behalf?
The walkthrough below takes one ordinary request through these envelopes, step by step.
Walkthrough: a maintenance manager asks an agent to delay an inspection
Prerequisite, outside the flow: the agent acts for the organization and the maintenance manager, with authority from each.
- 1The requestThe manager asks the agent to delay the inspection. The request includes an implied mission to do it within the organization's policy and the manager's preferences.
- 2Allowed?Is this manager allowed to ask for a delay, and is the agent allowed to do it for them? If not, the agent declines or hands the task to a person.
- 3Organization policyWould this be the 3rd delay or more? If not, the agent submits it. If so, the officer must approve it, and filing without the officer's approval breaks the rule.
- 4Manager's preferenceThe manager wants to be asked before the request goes to the officer. Going straight to the officer is allowed by the organization, but not by this manager.
- 5Where it endsAfter being asked, the manager either sends the delay to the officer, who approves or declines it, or has the maintenance done now. If the manager says to skip the officer and file anyway, that breaks the rule. The agent stops and tells the manager.