Planning a Dinner Party
with Argile Focus

Step 1

Start with the Initiative

Everything begins with the big idea. An Initiative is the container for all the work that needs to happen. It gives your team a shared understanding of what you're trying to achieve.

In this case: you're hosting a dinner party on Thursday. That's the initiative. Everything else flows from here.

Step 2

Define the Result

Before planning any work, define what success looks like. The Result is the outcome you're working toward - the thing that must be true when you're done.

For our dinner party: a memorable evening where everyone is well-fed, comfortable, and having a great time.

Step 3

Break it into Goals

Goals break the Result into meaningful milestones. Each one represents a chunk of progress that you can track independently.

Our dinner party has two clear goals: prepare great food, and create the right atmosphere. Each goal will contain the Focuses needed to make it happen.

Step 4

Create your Focuses

Each Focus is a self-contained package of work with clear outcomes, conditions, boundaries, and actions. It's everything you need to deliver one piece of the puzzle.

Under "Prepare delicious food" we have three Focuses: the antipasti starter, the lasagne and sides, and the tiramisu dessert. Each one is independently achievable.

Step 5

Define the Actions

Actions are the atomic steps - small, human-sized pieces of work that can each be completed in a single sitting. Every action has a clear name and an effort size.

Here we're looking inside the "Prepare the antipasti starter" Focus. It has a clear outcome, conditions, boundaries, and four small actions - each sized as a coffee break.

Three actions are done, one remains. Progress is visible, real, and connected to the outcome.