A Aims.
Aims is the third BEARINGS letter, inside the Assess phase before Gate A. It turns "we want to do X" into a SMART business objective with a benefit claim the program will be held accountable to after go-live.
Purpose
Aims forces the business case to be expressed as an outcome, not an activity. The objective is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART), and comes with a benefit claim — a Quantifiable Benefit Estimate (QBE) — that gets verified against actuals during Embed. If you can't state the aim in accountability-commitment terms, the program isn't ready for Gate A.
Worksheets
Where it fits
Aims sits in Assess before Gate A. It flows into Routes (the options must serve the aim) and into Signals (the measurement plan tracks the aim's benefits). The business owner — identified in WS03 Stakeholder Analysis — owns the benefit claim.