The Human + AI Planning Framework

AI should not replace thinking. AI should amplify it.

Every method on this site rests on one belief: the best plans come from humans who think carefully, helped by AI that researches, brainstorms, drafts, and critiques. Use AI to widen the option set and challenge your assumptions — but make every important decision yourself.

Step 1 — Define the goal

Be concrete about what you are trying to accomplish.

• Launch a business
• Create a website
• Write a book
• Plan a marketing campaign
• Build a product
• Change careers
• Grow revenue

Step 2 — Define constraints

Constraints turn fantasy into a plan.

• Budget — what cash and capital is available
• Time — by when does this need to happen
• Skills — what you and your team can do today
• Resources — tools, suppliers, network
• Competition — what others have already done
• Technology — what is technically possible now
• Legal — regulations, contracts, intellectual property

Step 3 — Generate possibilities with AI

AI is fastest and most useful at the divergent stage. Push it to generate more than you need.

• Brainstorm options across the full search space
• Explore alternatives you would have dismissed
• Identify opportunities adjacent to your stated goal
• Discover risks hidden inside your assumptions
• Challenge the assumptions explicitly

Step 4 — Evaluate alternatives

Define your evaluation criteria before you score. Otherwise you will reward whichever option AI described most vividly.

• Cost — total, not just upfront
• Difficulty — for your specific team
• Timeline — realistic, not aspirational
• Risk — likelihood and severity
• Expected outcome — best, expected, worst
• Long-term sustainability — what happens at month 24

Step 5 — Build action plans

Convert the chosen option into a plan a stranger could execute.

• Milestones with dates
• Tasks with owners
• Dependencies between tasks
• Timelines with buffers
• Resources required
• Success metrics with thresholds

Step 6 — Iterate

Plans go stale. Schedule reviews where AI summarises what changed, you decide what to update, and the plan stays alive.

Where to go next

Pick the method that matches your goal: business planning, startup planning, product development, marketing, research, career, financial, project, or creative planning. Each one applies these six steps to a specific domain.