A single bot doing one job can get by with one good set of instructions. Add a second and third bot and things change. They need to agree on rules, hand work to each other and keep records the same way.
That's the point where you need a management system.
Why one instruction file isn't enough
With several bots, problems show up that no single bot's instructions can fix:
- Bot A saves files one way, bot B another.
- One bot drafts by default. Another doesn't.
- A rule changes in one bot's file but not the others.
- Nobody can say which bot's rules are "right."
These are system problems. They need a shared layer above each bot.
The four levels
| Level | ISO quality management system | Bot system | Who reads it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quality manual and quality policy | Principles | Every bot |
| 2 | Procedures | Playbooks | Bots in that process |
| 3 | Work instructions | Skills | The bot doing that task |
| 4 | Records (retained documented information) | Saved files and logs | Anyone checking the work |
ISO doesn't require this exact layout. It's simply the layout most organizations use, and it fits bots well.
Level 1: principles
Short. A page at most. The rules every bot follows, whatever its job. Write only what makes your way of working different. See The seven principles, for bots.
Level 2: playbooks
How a whole process runs across bots and people. Who owns each stage, what goes in, what comes out, where the gates are. A playbook is where the map lives. See Map the process before you hire the bots.
Level 3: skills
How one task gets done. Steps, checks, version. See Work instructions are skills.
Level 4: records
The proof. Saved files and logs, kept in agreed places, not edited after. See Write it down or it didn't happen.
How the levels connect
- Skills cite the principles they follow, rather than repeating them.
- Playbooks name which skills each stage uses.
- Records are produced by skills, in the places the playbook says.
- One master copy of each, with a version. See The current version at the point of use.
A real example
Our AN Creation office is built this way. A shared core principles file that every bot reads, plus principles for specific roles. Playbooks and stage definitions for how projects move. About forty skills for specific tasks. A save skill and folder layout for records. A tester bot that audits it. A version file over the whole set.
It started with one bot and one instruction file. It grew into a system when the second and third bots arrived.
Thin is fine
A management system for three bots doesn't need to be a binder. A one-page principles file, two short playbooks and a handful of skills is a real system. Grow it when you have a reason to.
Where bots differ
People absorb culture: the unwritten rules. Bots don't. Anything that isn't written in the system, a bot doesn't know. That makes the system more important for bots than for people, and it means gaps show up faster.
What this means for you
- When you add a second bot, write a shared principles file.
- When work crosses bots, write a playbook.
- Keep skills small and versioned.
- Agree where records go.
- Audit it now and then with a tester bot.
Computer intelligence is rediscovering the management system. You don't have to wait for it. You can build one now.