Concepts
The irreducible epistemic atoms underlying the curriculum. 4,828 atoms across 8 types
Make coordination activities visible and calculate the ratio
Make coordination activities visible and calculate the ratio of coordination time to productive time, setting an explicit budget that new coordination mechanisms must fit within.
Prefer implicit coordination mechanisms—shared conventions…
Prefer implicit coordination mechanisms—shared conventions, templates, routines, and mental models—over explicit communication, because implicit coordination consumes dramatically less cognitive bandwidth.
Reject new coordination mechanisms that exceed…
Reject new coordination mechanisms that exceed the coordination budget unless an existing mechanism is removed, treating coordination capacity as a zero-sum resource.
Protect beneficial emergent patterns by maintaining…
Protect beneficial emergent patterns by maintaining the interaction conditions that produce them rather than formalizing the emergent behavior into explicit rules that eliminate the generative interaction.
When diagnosing harmful emergent patterns, change one agent…
When diagnosing harmful emergent patterns, change one agent or one interaction context rather than adding new agents, because increased interaction density can produce unpredictable new emergence.
Before adding a new agent to an existing system, count…
Before adding a new agent to an existing system, count the interaction channels it will create — if n(n-1)/2 exceeds your coordination capacity, either remove an existing agent first or do not add the new one.
Before removing an agent, audit what consumes its outputs…
Before removing an agent, audit what consumes its outputs, what constraints it enforces, and what failures it masks — then explicitly reassign, accept, or reroute each dependency before removal.
Reduce an agent's scope or frequency before eliminating…
Reduce an agent's scope or frequency before eliminating it entirely, using the graduated period to observe which hidden dependencies reveal themselves through degraded performance.
Verify handoff integrity with evidence rather than memory…
Verify handoff integrity with evidence rather than memory — check whether upstream outputs actually arrived at downstream consumers, not whether you believe they should have.
Practice coordination sequences consciously and repeatedly…
Practice coordination sequences consciously and repeatedly until they compile into System 1 automatic execution — compilation requires repetition of the full coordination pattern, not just individual components.
Attribute apparently effortless performance to well-compiled
Attribute apparently effortless performance to well-compiled multi-agent coordination rather than innate talent — the attribution determines whether you view the capability as reproducible or fixed.
Allocate attention only to tasks where your unique judgment…
Allocate attention only to tasks where your unique judgment, expertise, or authority creates irreplaceable value — systematically offload everything else through delegation to preserve capacity for highest-leverage work.
Identify your system's constraint and optimize only…
Identify your system's constraint and optimize only that constraint — improvements to non-bottleneck activities produce no increase in throughput.
Delegate to systems (checklists, automation, tools…
Delegate to systems (checklists, automation, tools, environments) before delegating to people — systems scale without increasing cognitive overhead, people do not.
Score tasks on three dimensions — irreversibility (cost…
Score tasks on three dimensions — irreversibility (cost of error), identity-centrality (builds core capability), and cognitive uniqueness (requires your specific context) — then delegate only tasks scoring low across all three.
Never delegate identity-defining decisions (those expressing
Never delegate identity-defining decisions (those expressing core values), context-dependent judgments (requiring non-transferable accumulated knowledge), or irreversible-consequence decisions (where errors cannot be undone) — these three categories require that decision authority and accountability remain unified.
Specify every delegation with five components
concrete outcome (what 'done' looks like), constraints (boundaries that must not be crossed), success criteria (how results will be evaluated), available resources (what the delegate can use), and timeline with checkpoints (when and how progress will be verified).
Specify the desired outcome with precision while leaving…
Specify the desired outcome with precision while leaving the method to the delegate's discretion to preserve autonomy and enable adaptive problem-solving.
Communicate both the objective and the intent behind it so…
Communicate both the objective and the intent behind it so delegates can adapt when conditions make the original objective impossible while preserving the mission's underlying purpose.
Implement verification at three distinct layers—continuous…
Implement verification at three distinct layers—continuous signals, periodic samples, and infrequent structural audits—calibrated to the stakes, maturity, and track record of the delegation.
Verify outputs against predefined success criteria rather…
Verify outputs against predefined success criteria rather than monitoring methods, preserving delegate autonomy while maintaining accountability for results.
Build verification that is transparent to the delegate…
Build verification that is transparent to the delegate rather than hidden, making checkpoints explicit and predictable to maintain trust while ensuring accountability.
Extend trust incrementally based on accumulated evidence…
Extend trust incrementally based on accumulated evidence of reliability rather than as a fixed initial condition, tightening verification when errors surface and loosening it as performance stabilizes.
When delegating to tools, verify outputs more aggressively…
When delegating to tools, verify outputs more aggressively than when delegating to humans because tools lack judgment, cannot flag their own uncertainty, and produce errors with uniform confidence.