Set autonomy per action against how bad it is if the action is wrong, not against how sure anything is that it is right.
3b · choose the level of automation
Match autonomy to consequences
Start with the example, then try it yourself. The last case is optional practice.
Meet Samir.
Samir follows what happens after a decision. He helps name the next owner, check permission to act, and confirm that work reached its destination.
Samir · Workflow operator
The case
Two kinds of match, two different rules
Classify the actual side effect of each step before choosing how much can run without a person.
Class one
Auto-merged above a confidence threshold
Class two
Detected, never auto-merged, at any confidence
Why class two never merges
The consequence reaches open deals and signed contracts
Threshold that would express "never"
There is not one
What the rule is actually about
Not confidence
Your task
Choose an automation level for each action. Set the protected duplicate case to human review.
Need a little guidance?
You’re done when: High-consequence actions retain the required human checkpoint.
Automation level should follow blast radius, not excitement or model confidence.
Need a reminder? Reopen the worked example
Watch one example first
Preparing an internal draft can be low consequence. Enrolling a person in a sequence that immediately sends externally has a different effect and needs its own authorization ceiling.
Why this follows from the evidence
Classify the actual side effect, not the friendly name of the action. Confidence about relevance does not make an external message reversible.
GTM Lab
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Case evidence
Two kinds of match, two different rules
Class one
Auto-merged above a confidence threshold
Class two
Detected, never auto-merged, at any confidence
Why class two never merges
The consequence reaches open deals and signed contracts
Threshold that would express "never"
There is not one
What the rule is actually about
Not confidence
Four actions, four different consequences. Classify each by what happens if it is wrong, then set how far it may go on its own.
Set a ceiling for each action
For this plan, match each action to its consequence. Then express the protected duplicate class as a rule the system can actually represent.
Actions to classify
Drag a card into a bucket, or tap a card and then tap a bucket.
Restoring this practice draft…
Optional: compare the original decision choices
The case tool above is the activity that records completion. These choices are an optional review of alternative reasoning.
Work the case · 0 of 3 sections drafted
Set the ceiling before you set the level
Compare these alternatives one section at a time. Check a choice to see its consequence; the draft summary below keeps the proposed changes together.
Step 1 of 3
Which classification is right?
This is a proposed draft until the chapter check runs. Selecting a choice alone does not complete the chapter.
