Your first 30 minutes.
You do not need to understand the whole system to start. You need one sitting, one folder, and one honest page. Here is exactly what to do, minute by minute. No signup, no cost, nothing to install.
Minutes 0 to 5: find your starting point
Take the scorecard. Twenty-four quick questions, nothing leaves the page. It scores all six orders and names your weakest one, which is where your real work starts. Write that order's name down.
Minutes 5 to 15: understand the machine
Read Foundations, at least the four building blocks at the top: the model is a well-read librarian, agents are its hands, prompts are instructions, and your documents are the fuel. Ten minutes, plain language. Every decision in the six orders makes sense once you have this picture.
Minutes 15 to 28: write your first document
Create one folder on your machine called Groundwork, and inside it a folder called 01_Identity. Open any text editor and start the first of the fifteen documents, the Identity Charter. A starter version:
# Identity Charter
## Who we are
[One clear paragraph. No marketing language.
Describe the actual operator or organization.]
## What we stand for
-
-
-
## What we will never become
-
-
-Save it as 01_Identity/Identity_Charter.md. A rough draft counts. The "never become" list is the sharp edge: write at least one line that names something you have actually refused to do. Order 1 has the full version and the standard for finishing it.
Here is what that looks like done. One folder, one file, thirteen minutes of honest writing:
Groundwork/
└─ 01_Identity/
└─ Identity_Charter.md
1 folder. 1 file. Yours.# Identity Charter
## Who we are
Prairie Lawn & Grounds is a two-man lawn
care company in Scott, Louisiana. We cut,
edge, and maintain about forty residential
yards and six commercial lots on weekly
routes. We answer our own phone, we show
up when we said we would, and we send the
invoice the same day the work is done.
## What we stand for
- The yard looks finished when we leave.
- We quote a price and keep it. Surprises
go in writing first.
- Small enough to know every customer's
gate code. Run like it matters.
## What we will never become
- A company with more routes than it can
cut well.
- A contract with hidden fees or renewal
traps.
- A brand that talks like a franchise.
We are from here.Minutes 28 to 30: set tomorrow up
Open the order the scorecard named as your weakest and read its opening section. Stop there. That is day one, done: you know your gap, you understand the machine, and the first of fifteen documents exists on your machine, owned by you.
Where this goes: the foundation (orders 1 to 3: Identity, Knowledge, Limits) is a focused weekend. Order 4 activates one Operator in about a week. The standing half (Remember and Improve) keeps it alive. The whole path is free and open in the guide, and the Field Guide PDF is the same doctrine in printable form.
The card to keep
GROUNDWORK ON ONE SCREEN
The rule: do not automate chaos. Organize first, automate last.
The three zones: Auto-Execute (safe, reversible, rule-bound) · Draft & Wait (AI drafts, a human signs off) · Never Automate (money, signatures, people).
The five authority levels: 0 Core Doctrine (charter, principles: obeyed without asking) · 1 Institutional Standards (approved policies and ways of working) · 2 Validated Knowledge (executed contracts, cleaned data, reviewed reports) · 3 Working Material (drafts and notes, never quoted as final) · 4 Untrusted / Raw (context only, never truth).
Print this page and keep the card. The print view strips everything else down to paper.
Prefer a human in the room? The audit is free: sixty to ninety minutes with Adam, and you leave with a map of your gaps whether or not you go further.