Page 173 · Module 07, Operate with Precision · this screen continues that page
All 108 frameworksWorking Backwards
Your team is building something a product, a feature, a process, a service and the
The prompt
Copy & paste readyLabelsReplace these
Who should run this prompt
Module role profileWho should audit and improve your operations? Operations problems hide in plain sight — in the handoffs nobody notices, the processes nobody has documented, and the decisions nobody has questioned. The roles on this page bring the discipline of people who have built systems that run without heroics. Use them to find what is broken before it breaks you, and to build what scales before you need it to.
The roles below are who the book suggests running this prompt — this lesson’s prompt doesn’t open with a single swappable role clause, so pick one and adapt the prompt’s own wording yourself.
◆◆◆◆◆ → ◆ seniority, board level down to specialist◈ outside the organisation
How to make any role sharper
- Add years of experience: "...with 15 years in enterprise SaaS" produces different depth than just the title.
- Add what they care most about: "You care most about [X]" shapes every word of the output.
- Add their communication style: "Be direct. Flag risks first. No jargon." changes the tone entirely.
Use this when
The problem it solvesconversation keeps starting with what you have, what you can build, or what technology allows. You need to reverse the direction of thinking before a single hour of work is spent.your team spends hours every week on tasks that are repetitive, rule-based, and predictable.
How the framework works
From the printed pageDeveloped by Jeff Bezos and embedded into Amazon's culture, Working Backwards begins at the end: the customer experience. Before any project starts, the team writes a mock Press Release announcing the finished product from the customer's point of view. It must answer: Who is the customer? What is their problem? Why is this meaningfully better than before? If the press release cannot be written clearly, the project is not ready to start. Amazon used this to build Prime, Alexa, AWS, and the Kindle each beginning with a customer document, not a technology roadmap. What looks like a writing exercise is a decision filter. Projects that cannot survive it should not be started.
The method, in four moves
Do these in orderStart with the highest-frequency tasks daily tasks with 10 minutes of work are worth more to automate than monthly tasks with 2 hours.
Never automate a broken process, fix the process first, then automate it.
Prioritise automation by: frequency × time per occurrence × cost of error.
Track time saved per automation, it builds the business case for the next one. eff Bezos, Amazon — documented in Working Backwards by Colin Bryar & Bill Carr, 2021 Build from the customer. Not from what is easy to build. The hardest part is the customer quote. If it sounds like marketing copy, your benefit is still abstract. Rewrite until a real person would actually say it to a friend. PRO TIP
Pairs well with
As printed with this frameworkModule 07 — Operate with Precision
Build systems that run without you and improve without being told.
12 frameworks, printed on pages 160–183.
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