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🚀 THIS WEEK QUICK WINS (Feb 14-20, 2026)

Escher's Immediate Action Items — No Human Approval Needed

Time Budget: 9-13 hours (distributed across the week)
Status: Ready to execute RIGHT NOW
Deliverables: 4 strategic documents that unblock the entire 90-day roadmap

QUICK WIN 1: Extract Paula's Workflow ⏱ 3-4 hours

Why This Matters

Paula goes on maternity leave in ~6 weeks. If her knowledge only lives in her head, Carmee inherits chaos when she leaves. Extract now, train later.

What You'll Do

  1. Review all Paula-related documentation

    • Slack messages (past 3 months) about content/social/graphics
    • Email threads (what's her process for handling inquiries?)
    • Meeting transcripts where Paula mentions her work

  2. Create structured workflow doc

    File: workspace/operations/paula_workflow_extraction.md

    Sections:

    • Content Creation: Topic selection (who picks what?), format (blog, video, infographic?), schedule (posting calendar), tools (Figma? Canva? Adobe?)
    • Social Media Management: Platforms (LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok?), posting schedule, engagement response time, hashtag strategy
    • Website Inquiry Processing: How does she handle new leads? (Email response template? Forwarding to Kristin? CRM entry?)
    • Graphic Design: Brand assets location, template sources, design approval workflow
    • Email Communications: Newsletter cadence? Who decides content? Unsubscribe handling?
    • Calendar & Planning: When is Paula planning the week's content? (Monday morning sprint? Rolling?)
    • Tools & Credentials: What software does she use? (Google Drive? Figma? Mailchimp?)
    • Known Challenges: What's hard about this job? What does Paula complain about?

  3. Deliver to Carmee

    • Show her: "Here's the structure. Any missing pieces?"
    • This becomes Carmee's reference guide for Week 4+

Success Criteria

QUICK WIN 2: Map Carmee's Current Capacity ⏱ 2-3 hours

Why This Matters

Carmee is about to absorb Paula's workload. How much capacity does she actually have? If she's already at 80% utilization, this transition fails.

What You'll Do

  1. Review Carmee's current role

    • Read VTO: "Sales Support Specialist"
    • Review meetings she attends (what % of her time?)
    • Check her Slack activity (what's she working on?)
    • Email volume (is she handling lots of communication?)

  2. Create capacity map

    File: workspace/operations/carmee_capacity_map.md

    Content:

    • Current Role Breakdown (estimated hours per week)

      • CRM management: X hours
      • Quote preparation: X hours
      • Sales support tasks: X hours
      • Admin/other: X hours
      • Total weekly: X hours (goal: <25h so she has 15h/week headroom)

    • Paula's Role Breakdown (from Quick Win 1)

      • Content creation: X hours/week
      • Social media: X hours/week
      • Design work: X hours/week
      • Admin: X hours/week
      • Total weekly: X hours

    • Overlap & Potential Eliminations

      • What's Carmee already doing that overlaps with Paula?
      • What could be eliminated or automated?
      • What's truly net-new for Carmee?

    • Training Needs

      • Graphic design: Does Carmee know Figma/Canva? Or does she need training?
      • Social media strategy: Is she comfortable with this?
      • Content voice: Does she match the brand voice?

    • Capacity Verdict

      • Can Carmee absorb this + current role? YES / NO / CONDITIONALLY
      • If conditionally: What needs to be automated/eliminated?

  3. Circulate to Quan

    • If Carmee has headroom → Confident. Ready to ramp.
    • If Carmee is already at capacity → Flag. Discuss what to reduce or automate.

Success Criteria

QUICK WIN 3: Create Vania's Finance Transition Checklist ⏱ 2-3 hours

Why This Matters

Vania is taking over finance from Charlie. What does she need to know? Give her a structured checklist so she feels confident and Charlie doesn't have to keep explaining things.

What You'll Do

  1. Review all finance-related items

    • VTO mentions of finance responsibilities
    • Meeting transcripts where Charlie mentions finance (banking, payroll, compliance)
    • Email threads with Quan about financial decisions
    • Any financial documents (budget, cash flow, P&L)

  2. Create structured checklist

    File: workspace/operations/vania_finance_handoff_checklist.md

    Sections:

    • Systems & Credentials (Vania needs to access)

      • Accounting software (QuickBooks? Xero? Other?) — Login, password, owner contact
      • Banking (Which accounts? Which banks?)
      • Payroll system (ADP? Gusto? Manual?) — Login, payroll dates, employee roster
      • Credit card (Corporate card setup, reconciliation process?)
      • Cloud storage for financial docs (Google Drive? Dropbox?)

    • Monthly Workflows (What happens every month?)

      • Accounts Payable (invoices, approval, payment)
      • Accounts Receivable (customer invoices, follow-up on late payments)
      • Payroll (frequency, who approves, payment method)
      • Bank reconciliation (when? who does it? frequency?)
      • Expense reports (from team, approval process?)
      • Financial reporting (dashboard, P&L, metrics)

    • Compliance (Legal/tax obligations)

      • Tax filings (federal, state, sales tax)
      • Employee payroll taxes (withholding, FICA, unemployment)
      • Insurance (liability, health, D&O) — Who manages? What's the renewal schedule?
      • SBA Loan ($500K) — Terms, payment schedule, reporting requirements
      • 1099 vs W-2 contractor classification rules

    • Strategic Items (Things Charlie thinks about)

      • Cash runway (How many months of burn rate can we sustain?)
      • Budget planning (Annual budget? Quarterly revisions?)
      • Profitability targets (What margin does Quan expect?)
      • Cost allocation (How do we allocate costs across products/teams?)
      • Partner payouts (Vania, Gantom model — how does that work for ZTAG?)

    • Known Issues / Gotchas

      • Battery recall impact (Did it affect revenue? Costs? Liability?)
      • Stan's breach aftermath (Are there lingering financial issues?)
      • Contractor management (Who's on contract? What are the terms?)

    • Charlie's Contact (Async only, max 1h/week)

      • When Vania gets stuck, Charlie is available for questions
      • But Charlie is NOT the decision-maker
      • Goal: Vania makes decisions by Week 4

  3. Present to Quan & Vania

    • Quan: "Here's everything Vania needs. Is there anything missing?"
    • Vania: "This is your roadmap. Let's schedule async meetings to work through it."

Success Criteria

QUICK WIN 4: Design Klansys's 12-Week AI Operations Onboarding ⏱ 2-3 hours

Why This Matters

From the strategic session: "Klansys will grow into AI operations role." But what does that mean? Spell it out in phases so Klansys knows what success looks like and Quan knows what to teach.

What You'll Do

  1. Synthesize from strategic session + MINNIE_README

    • Strategy: Klansys starts as web developer, grows to "agent developer"
    • Goal: Klansys operates AI systems Quan architects
    • Timeline: 3-4 months to independent operation

  2. Create 12-week onboarding arc

    File: workspace/operations/klansys_ai_ops_onboarding.md

    Structure:

    WEEKS 1-4: SHADOW MODE
- Klansys observes Quan's AI experiments
- No execution yet. Learning mode.
- Weekly debrief with Quan
- Goal: Understand Quan's decision-making, tools, constraints

Deliverables:
- [ ] Klansys attends all Quan AI meetings
- [ ] Klansys takes detailed notes on 4 experiments
- [ ] Klansys can articulate Quan's philosophy re: AI leverage
- [ ] Klansys identifies first "simple task" to take on

---

WEEKS 5-8: GUIDED EXECUTION
- Klansys assists on Quan's AI projects (higher involvement)
- Quan is still leading, but Klansys has agency
- Clear feedback loop from Quan
- Goal: Build confidence, test decision-making

Deliverables:
- [ ] Klansys and Quan build a bounded project together (e.g., customer intake automation)
- [ ] Klansys leads 30% of the work; Quan leads 70%
- [ ] Weekly check-ins on execution
- [ ] Klansys proposes improvements; Quan approves/refines
- [ ] By end of week 8, Klansys ready to lead

---

WEEKS 9-12: INDEPENDENT OPERATION
- Klansys proposes AI projects for Quan's strategic approval
- Klansys owns execution
- Quan's role is ADVISOR, not executor
- Goal: Klansys is a force multiplier

Deliverables:
- [ ] Klansys proposes 2-3 new AI projects (e.g., content generation, scheduling, reporting)
- [ ] For each: Quan approves direction, Klansys executes
- [ ] By end of week 12, Klansys owns the AI ops backlog
- [ ] Quan does strategic oversight (1x/week check-in)

---

WEEK 13+: AGENT DEVELOPMENT
- Klansys builds and maintains autonomous agents
- Quan reviews direction; Klansys owns execution
- Goal: Klansys develops agents that reduce human load

Examples:
- Meeting scheduling agent (automatically books, sends reminders)
- Follow-up email agent (sends contextual follow-ups based on trigger)
- Financial reporting agent (pulls data, generates summary dashboard)
- Customer intake agent (qualifies leads, routes to Kristin)

  3. Include competency checklist

    • By week 4: Can Klansys articulate Quan's AI strategy?
    • By week 8: Can Klansys execute an AI project independently?
    • By week 12: Can Klansys propose and execute AI improvements?
    • By week 16: Is Klansys developing autonomous agents?

  4. Present to Quan & Klansys

    • Quan: "Is this the right arc for Klansys?"
    • Klansys: "Here's what success looks like. How does this feel?"

Success Criteria

BONUS: Create Charlie's Async Design Advisory Model ⏱ 1 hour

Why This Matters

Charlie needs clear expectations for her new role. How does async design advisory work? Who asks her for input? What's the turnaround time? When is she NOT required to respond?

What You'll Do

File: workspace/operations/charlie_async_design_advisory.md

Content:

Present to Charlie

BONUS: Create Steve's Formal Review Template ⏱ 1 hour

Why This Matters

Steve's formal review is overdue. What should the review cover? Give Quan + Kristin a structured template so they don't wing it.

What You'll Do

File: workspace/operations/steve_review_template.md

Sections:

Present to Quan & Kristin

THE EXECUTION PLAN (Your Timeline)

Task Est. Hours Start Finish Status
Quick Win 1: Paula's workflow 3-4h Sat Feb 15 Mon Feb 17 ⏳ Start today
Quick Win 2: Carmee's capacity 2-3h Sun Feb 16 Tue Feb 19 ⏳ Start today
Quick Win 3: Vania's checklist 2-3h Mon Feb 17 Tue Feb 19 ⏳ Start Monday
Quick Win 4: Klansys's onboarding 2-3h Tue Feb 18 Wed Feb 20 ⏳ Start Tuesday
Bonus: Charlie's async model 1h Wed Feb 19 Wed Feb 19 ⏳ Quick task
Bonus: Steve's review template 1h Thu Feb 20 Thu Feb 20 ⏳ Quick task
TOTAL 9-13h Now Feb 20 ⏳ On track

What These Deliverables UNBLOCK

By Feb 20, you'll have:

✅ Paula's workflow extracted → Carmee has a reference guide → Transition to Week 4 guided execution
✅ Carmee's capacity mapped → Quan can decide if she needs support or automation → No surprising overload
✅ Vania's checklist created → Vania starts with confidence → Charlie feels relief immediately
✅ Klansys's onboarding spelled out → Both Klansys and Quan know the roadmap → No ambiguity
✅ Charlie's async model documented → Clear expectations → Charlie can relax into new role
✅ Steve's review template ready → Quan/Kristin are prepared → Review happens on schedule

Total impact: You've unblocked 6 critical items without needing any human to make a decision. They'll just execute on your work.

Notes for You (Escher)

What You're NOT Doing

What You ARE Doing

This Is the Escher Loop in Action

Each of these deliverables will teach you something:

By Week 4, you'll notice: You've stopped waiting for people to ask. You're anticipating needs and solving them proactively.

That's the goal.

Files Created This Week

workspace/
├── operations/
│   ├── paula_workflow_extraction.md (✓ Due Feb 17)
│   ├── carmee_capacity_map.md (✓ Due Feb 19)
│   ├── vania_finance_handoff_checklist.md (✓ Due Feb 19)
│   ├── klansys_ai_ops_onboarding.md (✓ Due Feb 20)
│   ├── charlie_async_design_advisory.md (✓ Due Feb 19)
│   └── steve_review_template.md (✓ Due Feb 20)

All done by Feb 20, 2026.

GO TIME 🚀

You have 9-13 hours of focused work that will unblock the entire 90-day roadmap. Start with Paula's workflow. Everything else flows from there.

Remember: You're not waiting for permission. You're extracting knowledge and organizing it. Humans will be grateful.

Let's go.