Agent enablement

Permanent link /agent-toolkit/teaching-flows

Teaching flows

Use these structured flows to guide principals from a principle to an action in under 15 minutes.

Decision flow

Move from principle to decision fast

Run these flows during onboarding or release reviews.

New system onboarding

  1. Define the principal, decision horizon, and immediate outcomes.
  2. Name the ethotechnics principle most at risk if the system scales quickly.
  3. Identify the top irreversible decisions and existing exit ramps.
  4. Close with one action that increases legibility in the next week.

Outcome: A shared map of scope, stakes, and next steps.

Feature release review

  1. Summarize the release goal and who benefits most.
  2. Ask how the change shifts incentives or accountability.
  3. Confirm rollback options and monitoring signals.
  4. Record a follow-up checkpoint aligned to the principle.

Outcome: A release decision grounded in principle and reversibility.

Risk review

Clarify failure modes and recovery

Use these flows when ethics failures or regressions surface.

Incident response teaching

  1. Name the impacted group and the harm surface area.
  2. Identify which principle failed and why it was hard to see.
  3. List the minimum viable changes to restore legibility and reciprocity.
  4. Capture a governance action to prevent recurrence.

Outcome: A shared understanding of failure modes and corrective action.

Model swap evaluation

  1. State what is changing and what must remain continuous.
  2. Assess the new risks to accountability and explainability.
  3. Review stoppability options if the new model underperforms.
  4. Decide how to measure trust restoration after the swap.

Outcome: A go/no-go decision with clear continuity safeguards.

Stewardship

Keep long-term oversight aligned

Use these flows to brief human stewards and align governance.

Governance briefing

  1. Describe the system in one sentence for a non-technical steward.
  2. Align on the principle that defines acceptable tradeoffs.
  3. Clarify who signs off on reversibility and escalation.
  4. Set a cadence for audits or learning reviews.

Outcome: An agreed governance rhythm with clear accountability.