Chapter 7 of 7, 10 min read
The 30-day plan
Four weeks, one deliverable each. Map, brain, first system, measure and hand over.
Chapters 1 to 6 give you the parts. This chapter orders them. One deliverable per week. Four weeks.
The brain itself can go up in hours. The 30 days is how long it takes for your team to start running on it.
| Week | Deliverable | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Map and brain | Hour-leak sheet, brain folder, tools connected | An AI tool answers a question about your top task like a colleague |
| 2. First system | System one running on last week's work | The reviewer trusts four of five outputs |
| 3. Measure | Golden set of 20 and a dated starting number | You have one week of before and after |
| 4. Hand over | One-page results, decision on systems two and three | The owner runs the loop without you |
Week 1. Map and brain
- 1MondaySend the five-things question to every team lead (chapter 2).
- 2TuesdayFill in hours per week and the two score columns. Pick three tasks.
- 3WednesdayCreate the brain folder with company.md and rules.md (chapter 3).
- 4ThursdayWrite the process file for task one with the person who does it. Connect your main tools.
- 5FridayAsk the AI tool five questions about the process. Fix every wrong answer in the file.
Week 2. First system on real work
Build the system for task one. Run it on ten examples from last week. Fix the brain until review takes under five minutes. By Friday the reviewer should trust four out of five outputs. If not, spend week 3 on this system and move the rest back a week. Do not skip ahead.
Week 3. Measure
Build the golden set of 20. Write the starting number. Switch the system on for real work with a person reviewing each output. Start the process file for task two while it runs. Done when you have one week of before and after.
Week 4. Hand over and decide
Write down what broke and what you fixed. Show the numbers to the people who pay. Decide whether systems two and three go next, and who owns them. Done when the owner can run the loop without you.
What to do when you slip
- A week slips because the brain is thin. Spend the extra days on the brain, not on a better prompt.
- The reviewer has no time. Name a second reviewer or cut the volume the system handles.
- People do not trust the output. Show them the golden set results. Numbers beat opinions.
- The task turned out not to be rule-based. Swap it for the next one on your sheet.
The same four-week shape is what our forward-deployed engineers follow: build in week 1, make it production-ready in week 2, measure and optimize in week 3, then explain and defend the work in week 4.
“We asked AY to build our MVP, and they did it in one month. Very responsive, very quick in their delivery.”
You can run this plan alone, with your own engineer, or with ours. If you want a second pair of eyes on your hour-leak sheet first, book 30 minutes. A senior engineer walks through it with you, and you keep the notes either way.
Exercise
Fill in the one-page plan
- 1Write the four week names on a page.
- 2Under each, write the owner, the deliverable and the "done when" line from this chapter, adjusted to your company.
- 3Put the dates on the calendar now. Week 1 starts on a Monday.
- 4Share the page with the three people who review or pay.
You end with. A dated plan with four owners. If any row has no owner, that is where it will slip.
Stuck on this chapter? Talk to an engineer. 30 minutes, you keep the notes either way.