Choose a bounded workflow

AI helps most when a vague wish is narrowed into a repeatable workflow with inputs, output, and a human owner. This principle matters because an AI system produces likely output from the context and instructions it receives; it does not automatically know the organization’s current facts, private policy, unstated intent, or acceptable risk.

Use the following sequence for this page: observe the actual bottleneck before selecting AI; choose a frequent, reversible, language-heavy task; define inputs, outputs, owner, and success measure; pilot with realistic examples before scaling. The sequence is a guide, not a ritual. Skip a step only when its question truly has no effect on the outcome, and strengthen it when mistakes would be costly.

Return to the opening case: A manager says “use AI to make the team productive,” while employees face distinct problems in meeting notes, customer drafts, and weekly planning. Begin by rewriting the request as a small contract. Name the intended reader or user, the authoritative material, the operation to perform, the required output, and the review owner. If current information is required, identify where it will come from. If exact calculation or action is required, assign that step to a deterministic tool or an approved system rather than relying on prose generation.

A useful instruction could follow this shape:

Goal: help [reader] accomplish [outcome]. Use only [named sources or supplied material] for factual claims. Perform [specific operation] and return [format]. Mark missing information as TBD or ask a focused question; do not guess. Before the result is used, [named person or role] will check [criteria].

• Automating a broken process. This hides an important assumption or removes a review point. Replace it with an explicit rule, a source check, or a human decision.
• Starting with the most consequential decision. This hides an important assumption or removes a review point. Replace it with an explicit rule, a source check, or a human decision.
• Measuring generated volume instead of saved effort and quality. This hides an important assumption or removes a review point. Replace it with an explicit rule, a source check, or a human decision.

Turn Choose a bounded workflow into a template you can reuse this week: job statement, required evidence, failure mode to catch, and reviewer. Store it next to your other work helper notes. When the job changes, rewrite only the job statement and re-run the same failure-mode list — do not invent a new workflow from scratch. Role of this page: Hook and intuition.