Lesson 3 — Let it think in steps

Learn

Big requests fail quietly. "Plan my product launch" produces a plausible page that helps nobody, because ten decisions got averaged into mush.

The craft is decomposition: break the job into steps, and either ask for the steps one at a time or tell the agent to work through them in order. "First list the audiences. Then, for each audience, one message that would make them look up. Then pick the strongest and draft it in full."

Two things happen. The work gets better, because each step gets the agent's full attention. And *you* stay in charge, because you can correct step two before it poisons step five.

A good rule: if you could not brief a capable new colleague on the task in one breath, it is more than one step.

Build

Nothing to configure — this one changes how you ask, not how the agent is set up. If you find a step sequence you reuse (weekly report, monthly outreach), paste the sequence into the agent's instructions so "run the weekly report" expands to the full recipe.

⚡ Do

Take one real, chunky task from your week. Write it as three numbered steps. Give your agent step one only. Correct it. Then step two. Notice how different this feels from one big request — and how much less you have to redo.