Deliberate Work
Building the Assembly Line for How Your Business Actually Runs
Most businesses run on accidental systems—processes that "just happened" over time. This guide shows you how to design work that flows deliberately, predictably, and without dropping balls.
Deliberate Work
Building the Assembly Line for How Your Business Actually Runs
From the makers of
Orcheros
The Hidden Operating System Running Your Business
Every business has an operating system. Not software—the actual system by which work gets done. The paths requests follow. The handoffs between people. The decisions about what happens next. Whether you designed it or not, you have one.
The question is: did you build it deliberately, or did it just happen?
For most businesses, the answer is uncomfortable. Someone started a spreadsheet three years ago. Another person created a checklist. A third figured out a workaround that became permanent. Now you have a Frankenstein system held together by individual heroics, tribal knowledge, and the hope that someone remembers the important things.
"This is Accidental Work—systems that evolved through urgency rather than design. And it's quietly killing your business."
The costs are real but invisible. Things fall through cracks. Your best people burn out playing hero. Customers get inconsistent experiences. And you lie awake wondering what you forgot.
The Hidden Costs of Accidental Work
You're already paying these costs—you just can't see them on your P&L.
Context Switching
Death by a thousand tabs. Every interruption costs 23 minutes of refocus time.
~2.1 hrs/day
lost per knowledge worker
Error Rates
The 1% that quietly kills you. Small mistakes compound into lost customers and rework.
3-5%
typical error rate in manual processes
Cycle Time
How long "done" actually takes. Work sits waiting while people figure out what's next.
2-3x
longer than necessary
Burnout
Your best people slowly tapping out. Heroics aren't sustainable—they're a sign the system is broken.
67%
of workers report burnout
The truth: You don't have a "people problem." You have a system problem that people are heroically compensating for.
What Is Deliberate Work?
"Workflow orchestration" sounds like a robot problem. It's not. It's the most human problem your business faces: how do we make sure the right things happen at the right time, every time, without relying on superhuman memory?
We call the answer Deliberate Work. Here's a simple definition:
Definition
Deliberate Work
Every important piece of work has a clear path from request to done.
Let's break that down:
"Every important piece of work…"
Not everything. Just the work that matters—customer-facing, revenue-generating, reputation-defining. The stuff that hurts when it falls through.
"…has a clear path…"
Not hidden in someone's head. Not "we usually do it this way." A visible, agreed-upon sequence that everyone can see and follow.
"…from request to done."
End-to-end. Not just "my part." The whole journey from when work enters your system to when it's truly complete and the customer is happy.
Accidental vs. Deliberate
| Accidental Work | Deliberate Work |
|---|---|
| "Someone will remember" | "The system ensures it happens" |
| Processes live in people's heads | Processes are visible and shared |
| Success depends on individual heroes | Excellence is built into the system |
| "Done" is fuzzy | "Done" has a clear definition |
| Firefighting is the norm | Exceptions are handled by design |
The Deliberate Work Loop
Deliberate Work isn't a one-time fix. It's a continuous cycle of seeing, designing, orchestrating, and improving.
See
Make the invisible visible. Map where work actually lives and flows today.
Design
Decide how work should flow. Define states, owners, and what "done" means.
Orchestrate
Make the design real. Connect people, tools, and automation so work flows.
Improve
Watch what actually happens. Find friction. Make small changes, continuously.
"The assembly line metaphor isn't about treating people like robots. It's about giving every important piece of work a reliable, visible path forward."
The Building Blocks
Deliberate Work is built on three core concepts. Master these, and you can design any workflow.
Work Types
Categories of work that behave similarly and follow similar paths.
Not all work is the same. A residential solar install follows a different path than an emergency service call. A new customer onboarding looks different from a support request.
Naming your Work Types is the first act of orchestration. When you can say "this is a Standard Support Request" or "this is an Enterprise Onboarding," you've taken the first step toward systematic excellence.
Examples: "Residential Solar Install," "Commercial Service Call – Standard," "New Customer Onboarding – Enterprise," "Emergency Repair"
Workflows
The specific, repeatable path each Work Type follows from start to finish.
A workflow isn't a vague process document. It's a concrete state machine where every piece of work knows exactly where it is, who owns it, and what happens next.
Think of it like software: orders in Shopify move through states (Pending → Processing → Shipped → Delivered). Your work should too.
Key elements: States (where work can be), Transitions (how it moves), Owners (who's responsible at each state), Ready/Done criteria (when work can enter or exit a state)
Orchestration
The active coordination that makes workflows actually run in real life.
Here's where Deliberate Work becomes real. Orchestration means the system actively coordinates work between people, tools, and time—not just tracks it.
Reminders fire automatically. Handoffs happen with full context. Customers get updates without anyone remembering to send them. The system does the remembering.
The key insight: Organization shows you what needs to happen. Orchestration makes it happen.
The Language of Deliberate Work: Ready and Done
Flows usually break in two places: at the start (bad intake) and at the end (fake "done"). Deliberate Work fixes this with two simple but powerful concepts.
Definition of Ready
The checklist of what must be true before work can enter a state. No more chasing missing information mid-flow.
Example: Before a solar design can start, we need: site photos, roof measurements, utility bill, and signed contract.
Definition of Done
The checklist of what must be true before work can be called complete. No more "done" that isn't really done.
Example: Installation isn't done until: system is operational, customer is trained, inspection is passed, and PTO is received.
"Ready and Done become the shared language of your team. Instead of arguing about whether something is finished, you check the list."
Your 90-Day Deliberate Work Plan
You don't have to transform everything at once. Start with one or two flows and build from there.
Days 1-14: See
Make the invisible visible. Run a 7-day work capture to understand where work actually lives and flows today.
- • Map your work surfaces (email, chat, spreadsheets, tools, brains)
- • Identify your shadow workflows—the unofficial ways things actually get done
- • Name your top 8-15 Work Types
Days 15-45: Design
Pick 2-3 high-impact flows and design how they should work.
- • Run 90-minute value stream mapping workshops
- • Identify friction points and bottlenecks
- • Define Ready and Done for each state
Days 46-75: Orchestrate
Make the design real. Implement your workflows in a system that can orchestrate them.
- • Configure workflows with states, owners, and transitions
- • Set up automations for reminders, notifications, and handoffs
- • Train your team on the new flows
Days 76-90: Improve
Watch what actually happens. Measure, learn, and refine.
- • Track flow metrics: cycle time, throughput, bottlenecks
- • Run retrospectives to identify friction
- • Make small improvements continuously
Then repeat. Pick the next 2-3 flows and run another 90-day cycle. Deliberate Work isn't a project—it's how you operate.
Get the Complete Guide
This page covers the essentials, but the full Deliberate Work guide goes deeper—with worksheets, templates, and detailed playbooks for every step.
No spam. Just the guide and occasional insights on running a Deliberate company.
150+
Pages
21
Chapters
12
Templates
The system that makes Deliberate Work real
Deliberate Work is the philosophy. Orcheros is the operating system that brings it to life—orchestrating work between your people and your tools so nothing falls through the cracks.
See How Orcheros Works"Work orchestrated. Heroes made."
- Design your Work Types and workflows
- Automate reminders, handoffs, and customer updates
- Connect your existing tools into one orchestrated system
- Give every team member a clear path forward