{"slug":"research-unit-of-work","name":"Unit of work","rules":{"start":"open"},"nodes":{"open":{"short":"the note","pose":{"base":"centre"},"beat":{"layout":"center","marker":"unit of work · interactive","title":["Unit","of work"],"glass":1,"lede":"The contract that replaces the prompt: a job with a definition of done, a budget, and a single owner, living in a workspace.","caption":"7 beats · 3 min to read in full"}},"premise":{"short":"the premise","pose":{"base":"flooded"},"beat":{"layout":"left","marker":"01 · unit of work","title":["Phase 1 said businesses hire","agents and pay for outcomes"],"lede":"Phase 1 said businesses hire agents and pay for outcomes. This page defines the thing they actually hand over: not a prompt, a job.","rows":[{"title":"A prompt","note":"one instruction, no memory or state, no tools or files, nothing to verify or bill."},{"title":"A workspace","note":"owns the whole outcome, memory and files persist, tools to reach your systems, budget, state, and record built in."}],"caption":"Condensed from the note."}},"what-the-job-needs-to-live":{"short":"what the job needs","pose":{"base":"drained"},"beat":{"layout":"right","marker":"02 · what the job needs","title":["What the job","needs to live"],"rows":[{"title":"Runtime","note":"a place to actually act, not just answer."},{"title":"Memory","note":"context that carries across the whole job."},{"title":"Files","note":"the artifacts the work produces and edits."},{"title":"Tools","note":"access to the systems where the work lives."}],"caption":"Condensed from the note, which carries 6 points."}},"the-lifecycle":{"short":"the lifecycle","pose":{"base":"centre"},"beat":{"layout":"left","marker":"03 · the lifecycle","title":["The lifecycle","unit of work"],"rows":[{"title":"Define","note":"name the outcome and the end state you want."},{"title":"Budget","note":"set what that outcome is worth."},{"title":"Execute","note":"the agent works inside the workspace."},{"title":"Verify","note":"compare the state, before against after."}],"caption":"Condensed from the note, which carries 5 points."}},"what-the-contract-buys-you":{"short":"what the contract","pose":{"base":"flooded"},"beat":{"layout":"right","marker":"04 · what the contract","title":["What the contract","buys you"],"lede":"A definition of done forces the requester to say what correct looks like before execution, which is where most delegation failures are created.","rows":[{"title":"Definable","note":"the end state is written down before work starts."},{"title":"Verifiable","note":"done is a state comparison, not a self-report."},{"title":"Priceable","note":"budget vs. spend, per outcome, not per token."},{"title":"Accountable","note":"exactly one owner per unit."}],"caption":"Condensed from the note."}},"the-loop-a-business-already-runs":{"short":"the loop","pose":{"base":"drained"},"beat":{"layout":"left","marker":"05 · the loop","title":["The loop a business","already runs"],"lede":"Businesses do not think in models, agents, or tokens, and should not have to: nobody prices an accountant by spreadsheet keystrokes. The loop they run is intent, action, impact, and the unit of work maps onto it one-to-one.","rows":[{"title":"Intent","note":"what the business wants: a definition of done plus a budget."},{"title":"Action","note":"execution inside the workspace, by a person or an agent."},{"title":"Impact","note":"the verified state change, settled against the budget."}],"caption":"Condensed from the note."}},"close":{"short":"the end","pose":{"base":"finale"},"beat":{"layout":"center","title":["That is the note,","in one pass."],"glass":1,"lede":"This is Unit of work condensed to its beats. The full note carries every paragraph, the tables, the code, and the source it was adapted from.","links":[{"href":"/research/unit-of-work","label":"Read the full note"},{"href":"/research","label":"All research","tone":"ghost"}]}}}}