An operating system for the whole company.
Every company runs on a set of decisions about direction, ownership, rhythm and memory. In most companies those live in someone’s head, a deck from March, and three Slack threads. This is what it looks like when they live in files instead.
Use a free instrumentSee a folder renderedTake the repository
The map.
Eight areas, 35 files. Every file states what it is for, the questions it has to answer, and a worked example in a company that does not exist. Open any one.
os/
direction/What the company is for, and where it is going7 files
annual-priorities.mdThe handful of things this year is actually about. Three to five, not twelve.2 of 3: template, skill
guardrails.mdWhat must stay true while you chase the north star. The things you would not trade for growth.2 of 3: template, skill
mission.mdWhy the company exists. One sentence a new hire can repeat accurately after hearing it once.2 of 3: template, skill
north-star.mdThe single number that tells you whether the bet is working.2 of 3: template, skill
principles.mdHow decisions get made when nobody senior is in the room.1 of 3: template
strategy.mdThe bet. Where you are choosing to compete, and what that rules out.1 of 3: template
vision.mdWhat the world looks like if you win. Specific enough to be wrong.1 of 3: template
planning/Turning direction into a quarter of work5 files
annual.mdHow the year is shaped, and when it gets revisited on purpose rather than by drift.1 of 3: template
charters/TEMPLATE.mdWhat one domain is responsible for, where its edges are, and who owns it.2 of 3: template, skill
quarterly/okrs.mdThe quarter’s bets. What you are trying to move, and how you will know.2 of 3: template, skill
quarterly/retrospective.mdWhat the quarter taught you, written while you still remember.2 of 3: template, skill
quarterly/roadmap.mdWhat is being built this quarter, by whom, and roughly when.2 of 3: template, skill
accountability/Who owns what, and how you know5 files
decision-rights.mdWho decides, who is consulted, who is merely told. Written down before the disagreement.1 of 3: template
goals.mdThe target behind each number, who agreed it, and when. A number without an agreed target is not accountability, it is reporting.The Goal Ladder2 of 3: template, skill
metrics.mdOne number per person. The number that describes what they are permanently accountable for — not this quarter’s project.The Funnel Diagnostic2 of 3: template, skill
status-rules.mdWhat red, yellow and green mean. Decided once, in advance, so the colour is never argued about in the meeting.2 of 3: template, skill
teams.mdHow people are grouped, and what each group is for. Often not the same as the reporting line.1 of 3: template
execution/How work actually ships4 files
escalations.mdWhat happens when something is stuck, and who un-sticks it.2 of 3: template, skill
gates.mdWhat has to be true before something reaches customers. The checks that are not negotiable.1 of 3: template
programme.mdHow work actually moves from idea to shipped. The stages, and what it means to be in one.1 of 3: template
work-links.mdWhere the work actually lives, so nobody has to hunt for it.1 of 3: template
reporting/The rhythm, and what each meeting is for6 files
all-hands.mdWhere the whole company hears the same version of the story.2 of 3: template, skill
board.mdThe quarterly version for people who are not in the building.2 of 3: template, skill
investor.mdThe monthly or quarterly note to people who own a piece and are not on the board.2 of 3: template, skill
monthly.mdThe slower look. Trend rather than fluctuation, and the month-end numbers that only close once a month.2 of 3: template, skill
one-on-ones.mdThe recurring conversation between a person and their manager. Different questions weekly and monthly.The 1:1 System2 of 3: template, skill
weekly.mdThe meeting that catches things while they are still small. What changed, and what needs a decision.2 of 3: template, skill
decisions/The company’s memory3 files
frameworks.mdHow recurring decisions get made, so each one is not argued from first principles.1 of 3: template
log.mdWhat was decided, by whom, and why. The company’s memory, and the cure for deciding the same thing three times.2 of 3: template, skill
resource-allocation.mdWhere the money and the people go, and how that changes.1 of 3: template
people/What is expected, and how people grow4 files
expectations.mdWhat good looks like, at each level, in plain language.2 of 3: template, skill
hiring.mdHow roles get opened, run and closed.1 of 3: template
onboarding.mdHow someone becomes useful in their first fortnight.2 of 3: template, skill
performance.mdHow performance is discussed rather than avoided.1 of 3: template
customers/What customers are telling you, in one place1 file
signal.mdWhat customers are telling you, gathered in one place instead of scattered across inboxes.2 of 3: template, skill
One folder, rendered.
A map of templates raises a fair question: and then what? Here is accountability/ for a company that does not exist — fourteen people, one metric each, and a colour per person computed from the written rule rather than typed.
- 3 green
- 1 yellow
- 3 red
- 1 no target
- 6 needs setup
- 1 stale
Three of fourteen on plan, six with no documented goal, one target unratified, one number three weeks old and therefore not green. That is what two months in looks like when nobody hides the gaps.
The part that makes it multiplayer.
Most AI use inside a company is single-player: a private chat window, a prompt nobody else has, and the company explained again from memory every session. Nothing accumulates, and two people asking the same question get two different answers.
The files are the shared context. These are the shared procedures — a founder on a Monday, someone in their first week, and an agent with repository access follow the same steps over the same facts. A skill reads the files, writes into reports/, and only ever proposes a change to os/. A report can be regenerated; a decision cannot.
set-accountability
Never invent a target to fill a gap. no-target is a truthful state; a made-up number is not.
plan-quarter
Never grade and re-plan in the same session. The grade will get softened to protect the plan.
run-weekly-review
Never let the report be written by the person being reported on.
run-a-one-to-one
Never use the weekly to deliver a performance judgment you have been saving. It belongs in the
diagnose-metric
Never hand-edit an observation to make a chart look right. Correct the source and re-derive.
prepare-report
Never let a report be the first place a number appears. Reports read the OS; they do not author it.
review-customer-signal
Never let one loud customer become a theme. A theme has a count.
onboard-someone
Never start someone without a named first task and a named person to ask.
update-company-context
Never update a fact without a source you can name.
Three instruments, free, nothing leaves your browser.
Each one does a specific job from a specific file in the map. No sign-up, no account.
The Goal Ladder
One number per department and per person, and a quarter whose key results are drawn from those numbers rather than invented alongside them.
The Funnel Diagnostic
Where the funnel actually breaks, and whether you have enough data to say. It will tell you when the number means nothing yet.
The 1:1 System
Weekly and monthly templates that ask different questions, and how to run them as recurring tickets you can query six months later.
Take a copy.
MIT licensed and set up as a GitHub template, so it forks in one click or clones in one command. Start with three files — direction/north-star.md, accountability/metrics.md and accountability/status-rules.md. Those three do most of the work. Delete what you do not need; an empty file is worse than a missing one.
os/ is what a person decided · data/ what was measured · reports/ what was generated · skills/ how a job gets done. A diff in os/ always means someone changed their mind.
