The method
A working sequence for regulated small firms: find the first move, brief it, check it, keep the judgement, and set the gate before the pilot.
Spot, assign, prioritise. Start with a quick win that survives a month. The Opportunity Finder and the First Move Canvas.
Brief AI the way you would brief a capable colleague: role, task, context, format, and the check it needs.
Sort the task by consequence and precision. Then raise the flags that tell you what to check.
Conversation, not delegation. The person briefs, pushes back, checks, and signs. The tool drafts. The person carries the consequence.
One workflow, one owner, one measure, a named checker, and a 30-day scale, pivot, or kill decision written before the pilot.
What the firm is actually equipped to take on.
Where AI creates defensible value, and where it creates more risk than it removes.
The sequence, the gates, and the change response.
Data, infrastructure, talent, and governance.
The business case in the firm's own terms.
The tools, the essays, the field notes, the AI Readiness Reflection, and the 30-minute fit call.
The Diagnostic, the governance audit, local AI deployment, and client-specific work on client data.
The method is free because it is the proof. The paid work is the application, the client context, and the accountability.
The method is backed by the lab, the tools, and the teaching record. Inspect the evidence, the local-AI lab, the ACIS 2026 paper, or the field notes.
Code and tools are MIT. The books are CC BY 4.0. The field notes are MIT. The essays are free to read and share with attribution. Client work and private templates are not licensed.
Decide Like You adapts Dylan Davis's Decide Like Me method. The Opportunity Finder draws on The Human Edge book and masterclass. The Trust Tool, Brief Like You, the Flag System, and Conversation Not Delegation are my own working synthesis. Ideas are not copyrightable; the expression is mine.