Skill Elicitation

Occupation

Categories

Data Engineering

All files live under docs/skill-work/work-elicitation/.

Modes

Full pass (elicit or elicitation pass)

Run all five layers in order. Each layer is a bounded interview block:

1. Ask concrete questions (prefer examples over abstractions).
2. Distinguish ideal pattern from real pattern.
3. Identify repeated judgment calls.
4. Note uncertainty honestly.
5. Show the operator a checkpoint summary of what was captured.
6. Wait for confirmation before writing to the file.

Single-layer pass (elicit rhythm, elicit friction, etc.)

Run one layer only. Same interview discipline, scoped to that layer's file.

Telemetry-grounded pass (elicit from telemetry)

Skip the interview. Read work-cadence-events.md, session transcripts, and git history to populate layers from observed data. Present findings for operator review before writing.

Steps (agent)

1. Read current state. Open the target file(s) under docs/skill-work/work-elicitation/. Note what's already populated and what's blank.

2. Choose mode. Full pass, single-layer, or telemetry-grounded (based on operator's trigger or agent judgment).

3. For each layer:

   • Ask 3–5 concrete questions. Prefer "what do you actually do" over "what do you value."
   • When the operator answers, extract structured entries that match the file's template.
   • Show a checkpoint summary: "Here's what I'd write to operator-rhythm.md — confirm or edit?"
   • On confirmation, write to the file using StrReplace (preserve existing content; append or refine).

4. Contradiction pass (after completing 2+ layers or a full pass):

   • Cross-check across layers: do stated rhythms match stated frictions? Do thresholds contradict decision logic? Does the dependency map explain the friction log?
   • Surface contradictions to the operator: "Your rhythm says mornings are best for strategy, but your friction log shows meetings every morning. Which is more accurate?"
   • Do not resolve contradictions silently — present them.

5. Write session note (optional): save raw interview material to elicitation-sessions/YYYY-MM-DD-[layer]-pass.md if the session produced substantial raw content worth preserving.

6. Update history: append one line to work-elicitation-history.md summarizing what was captured and which layers changed.

Interview principles

• Concrete over abstract. "Walk me through yesterday" beats "describe your ideal day."
• Real over ideal. "What actually happens when you're interrupted" beats "how do you handle interruptions."
• Examples over categories. "Give me a recent decision that was hard" beats "what types of decisions are hard."
• Repeated patterns over one-offs. A friction that happens weekly matters more than a friction that happened once.
• Operational over biographical. "What do you check first when you sit down" beats "what motivates you."
• Short questions, long answers. The operator's time is the scarce resource; the agent's job is to ask tight questions and capture the full answer.

Guardrails

• WORK only. No edits to self.md, self-archive.md, or bot/prompt.py.
• Review-first. Show checkpoint summaries before writing. Do not populate files silently.
• Not Record truth. Elicitation outputs are operator working notes, not identity claims. They inform downstream lanes by reference, not automatic propagation.
• Not a dumping ground. Each entry should be useful to at least one downstream lane. If it's not actionable, it doesn't belong.
• Operator can veto. Any captured entry can be removed or edited by the operator at any time.

Relation to other skills and lanes

Related files

• docs/skill-work/work-elicitation/README.md — lane boundary and contents
• docs/skill-work/work-elicitation/work-elicitation-history.md — append-only log
• docs/skill-work/work-template.md — lane creation checklist
• Upstream model: OB1 Work Operating Model Activation