Ship verdict · cores 1–4
Day has not shipped
0/4 cores
0/7 ships
Status —
AM Morning · 15–30 min
Name the constraint. Name the owners. Kill one thing before the day starts you.
Open blockers · single owner + kill-by
01 The seven daily ships
Check what moved. Cores 1–4 decide whether the day shipped.
Hard rule: If none of cores 1–4 moved, the day did not ship — regardless of calendar fullness.
DAY During the day
Be where the work is hard. Decide in writing. Never silent-red.
ALG The Algorithm · management edition
Order matters. Classic failure: automate or accelerate junk first.
1
Question every requirementWho wrote it? Name attached. Anonymous process dies.
2
DeleteKill the meeting, approval, report, or handoff that adds latency.
3
Simplify / optimizeOnly what survived deletion.
4
Accelerate cycle timeShrink the loop: build → see → decide → build.
5
Automate lastNever automate a process that should not exist.
Managers ship steps 1–4 daily. Automation is a project. Deletion is a habit.
NO Does not count
Reject fake productivity.
- Status meetings without decisions
- “Alignment” without a written call
- Roadmap polish off factory / user / physics reality
- Process creation as a substitute for progress
- Hierarchy that slows truth
- Busyness metrics (emails, hours, meetings)
- Being “helpful” while the critical path stalls
UP Communicate up
Compress cognition. Verbose status is a tax.
BLUF
Bottom line up front. Recommendation first; context below.
QBQ
Answer the fear: is this under control, or am I cleaning up a disaster?
POV / skin in the game
Hypothesis + recommendation. Do not dump pure questions upstairs.
Frame the mission
Physics, cost, schedule, customer — not personal inconvenience.
SUN Sunday reset · 15–20 min
Not ceremony — re-aim the weapon.
TEST One-line test
Did the real constraint move, did waste die, and can I prove both in numbers — or am I just busy?
If you only remember one thing: ship movement and deletion, not meetings.