A large task should rarely be given to AI in a single sentence. This lesson helps you divide the work into clear steps: what AI handles, where people retain judgement, and which steps require approval.
10 to 15 minutes.🧠 Workflow Thinking🔁 Input → AI → Human → AI → Approval → Output Output: Workflow Map for a real thing
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🧠 MANAGER THINKING
1. Analyze this file and report to me.
The Beginning Situation
You're assigning the job.
Analyze this sales file and report to me.
AI can be self-assured.
Which metric is important?
Compared to LY or budget?
How do you handle the missing value?
Which Insight needs a manager review?
Who's the final report for?
What's the big deal?
🧠 MANAGER THINKING
Mental model: turn tasks into workflows
📥 Input
The files, the emails, the notes, the requests.
→
🤖 AI work
Read, standardize, calculate, draft
→
👤 Human judgement
Check rule, assumption, exception
→
🤖 AI work
Analyze, write, format
→
✅ Approval
Passing the final step
A good workflow is not a multi-step workflow. Right checkpoint, right place..
🎭 ROLE-PLAY · WEEKLY SALES REVIEW
3. Divide a real task into steps
You need to do a weekly sales review from a CSV file and send the summary to the Operational Director.
Check file structure and missing data
Confirm if the missing value is considered zero or not.
Variance and flag store characteristics are unusual
Conclusion of the Cause of Reduced Margin
Write an executive summary from the conclusions that have been reviewed
🧠 MANAGER THINKING
Where should the checkpoint be located?
Not every step requires human review, but there are points where if you go wrong, the whole next step will go wrong.
What's the most important checkpoint before AI continues to analyze?
🧠 MANAGER THINKING
Where's the other approval checkpoint?
Checkpoint
Stop in the middle of the workflow to check assumption, rule, exception or direction of analysis.
Approval
Stop before a step with external consequences: submit a report, publish, update data, make a formal recommendation.
Checkpoint helps with workflow Going in the right direction.Approval helps with the workflow. Don't go too far..
What's the workflow?
6. Which workflow is more reliable?
⏸ STOP & CHECK
7. Have you seen the workflow?
1 · AI work What steps does AI do fast and repeat well?
2 · Human judgement What steps need context, rule or decision?
3 · Approval What steps should be stopped before sending/changing?
Rewrite the mental model in your own words.
🛠 HANDS-ON WITH AI
AI helps you design workflows, but it doesn't always give you decision-making.
I have the following task: [describe the task]. Divide the workflow into steps: 1. input 2. AI work 3. human judgment/checkpoint 4. AI work next 5. approval before final step 6. final output With each step, write down: - who is the main one; - input needed; - output of the step; - condition to be moved to the next step.
🛠 HANDS-ON REVIEW
9. What does a good workflow help managers do?
The output of the body
10. Draw a workflow map for a real thing.
Pick a task you're doing repeatedly and break it down into steps.
The work
📥 Input
🤖 AI work
👤 Human judgement
✅ Approval / Final output
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You've completed Lesson 6 and Phase 1 · Think with AI.
One sentence to carry: Don't ask who did all this? Ask who did it. Ask who did it.