The Ishi Card

The intent in one sentence, the time horizon, the boundaries that prevent drift and overreach, the first move, and the conditions for AHA (pronounced A-Hey).

Written by hand. Handwriting is slower than typing, and the slowness is the mechanism: it shows what is being committed to.

At Hansei the card is the evidence. The review works from the decision made, not the story preferred later. A new Ishi starts with a new Ishi Card.

A worked Ishi Card

A decision is real only when it constrains future behaviour, and the Ishi Card is where that constraint is written, by hand, before the work starts. The worked example uses the weekly horizon from Ishi: The Discipline of Determined Intent: revising a chapter, with the revised draft due by Sunday even if one day is swallowed by unforeseen work.

• HorizonWeekly Ishi. The revised draft by Sunday, even if one day is lost to unforeseen work.
• Intent, one sentenceComplete the revision of the current chapter.
• Cost and exclusionNew consulting work that would take the edit time is declined, and a new chapter idea that would destabilise the timeline is set aside.
• First actionA 90-minute Ishi Sprint on the chapter: tabs closed, phone silenced, and a completed page defined before starting.
• AHA (pronounced A-Hey) conditionsWritten at the start, while judgement is clear: a fatigue threshold, a boundary or a time limit that would call for Adjust, Hold or Abort. The owner sets each one.

At Sunday's Hansei the card goes back on the desk beside what happened. Did the work stay in bounds, and did a boundary or trigger fire?

What stays off the card

• A list or a planThe card holds one intent, named and bounded, rather than 3 priorities competing for the same hours.
• Typed or templated textTyped intent is easy to revise, copy and bury, so the card is written by hand.
• The in-flight logTriggers that fire during the week, and the response chosen, go on the AHA Trigger Card for the weekly Hansei.
• Decisions held by several peopleWhen intent is held outside one head, the larger Kettei Card records the decision when it is made.
• Changes after the factA changed intent is a new decision, written on a new Ishi Card.