When the work stalls, the next step is the one definition that matches the symptom.
• If the Closing begins with a commitment to a consultation: Chapter 10. Revise it into a line that only needs to be read.
• If you've been accepting work because "they seem pleasant": Chapter 11. Return the Entrance conditions to conditions about specifications.
• If you've put two peak months into one 90-day cycle, or you're tempted to rush through the 90 days: Chapter 12. Narrow it down to the one peak month with the earlier date, and look only at the current 30 days.
That was quite a long list.
There's no need to memorize all of it. When things stall, just open this page. That's what this list is here for.
For now, just think of it as quietly slipping a bookmark into this page.
▶ Decided by the top executive
• On the Monday of the week things stalled, decide just one chapter to return to, and write it in the Internal Memo.
▶ Asked of employees
• Until Friday of that week, work only on the chapter you returned to. Don't touch any other chapter. If you open two, you'll lose track of which Sheet this week is meant to leave.
Even when a plan stalls, you no longer get lost in recovering. The stalled week changes from "a week we failed" into a week in which you decide on one chapter to return to and start again.
Key points: When things stall, choose just one chapter to return to, based on the symptom. That week, open only that chapter. The place you return to is a chapter you've already been through.
Find the chapter to open based on the situation you're struggling with.
• You can't tell whether the Line on your homepage is getting through → Chapter 1.
• You want to set peak months only a few times a year → Chapter 2.
• There are fewer than 30 days until the peak month, and the Sheet isn't in the Folder → Chapter 3.
• A deadline-driven peak month is approaching, but the document names aren't on the homepage → Chapter 4.
• You can't tell what was left behind during open time → Chapter 5.
• Your homepage says "with heartfelt care" → Chapter 6.
• Abstract claims remain → Chapter 7.
• You want to stop generative-AI drafts before they're finalized → Chapter 8.
• Price talk appears before specifications → Chapter 9.
• The Closing begins with a commitment to a consultation → Chapter 10.
• The Entrance says "anyone is welcome" → Chapter 11.
• The peak month has begun, and you're tempted to rebuild pages → Chapter 12 (and the Chapter 2 Rule).
• Things stalled partway through, and you don't know where to go back to → Chapter 13.
• You want to keep decisions in records and hand them over → Chapter 14.
AQ GROW | AI Search Structure