Test each component of a compound schema independently…

When This Fires

• Before trusting any multi-part plan, strategy, or belief system
• When a complex schema produces an unexpected failure and you need to diagnose why
• During validation of any model that combines multiple independent claims
• When "something is wrong but I can't tell what" describes the diagnostic situation

Common Failure Mode

Testing only the compound: "I'll try the whole strategy and see if it works." If it fails, you've learned only that "it didn't work" — not which component broke. You either abandon the entire strategy (losing the components that were correct) or re-run it hoping for a different result (no diagnostic improvement).

The Protocol

For compound schemas: (1) Decompose into atomic components — each independent claim or assumption. (2) Test each component independently: does this claim hold on its own? (3) Components that pass → validated atoms. Components that fail → repair or replace before compound testing. (4) Only after all atoms pass: test the compound (the interaction between validated components). Compound failures now diagnose to the interaction model, not to unidentified component failures.