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Reconstruct what was known at the time

Concepts

Most systems overwrite the past. Telha keeps it.

A decision made in March may have relied on information that was later corrected in May. To understand the decision, you need both views: what appears true now, and what the organisation believed then. Telha stamps every fact with three clocks so it can always tell you what was known, and when.

The three clocks on every fact

Clock The question it answers Example
When it was true When was this the case in the real world? "Michael owned this risk from 1 May."
When we knew it When did the organisation record or learn it? "We recorded that on 3 February, and corrected it on 9 April."
Date on the evidence What date does the source itself carry? "The scanned letter is dated 28 December."

The first two are the important ones for reconstructing a decision. The third keeps citations honest, so an answer points to the document as it was written.

Why two of those clocks are not enough

Imagine a supplier risk. On 3 February Telha reads an out-of-date org chart and records that Sarah owns it. On 9 April a correction arrives: it was actually Michael all along, effective 1 May. Now ask "who owned this risk on 1 May?" two ways:

  • As we understand it today the answer is Michael. The correction is in force.
  • As we believed it back on 3 February the answer is Sarah. That is what any report run that day would have used.

A system that simply overwrote Sarah with Michael can never answer the second question, the old belief is gone. Telha keeps both, so "what did we believe about this in the spring, before the amendment arrived?" is answerable, forever.

Corrections and deletions never lose history

  • A correction adds a new version; the old one stays, reconstructable exactly as it was believed at the time.
  • A deletion marks the fact as no longer true from that point on, without erasing the past. Yesterday's answer still holds up.

This is why you can trust an answer Telha gave last quarter: it does not silently change under you when new information arrives. This is also the mechanism behind a decision reconstruction, separating what was known before a decision from what came to light afterwards.

Where you see this

You can ask about a point in time directly. See Ask about a point in time and the three time questions.