prerequisite-planning

name	prerequisite-planning
description	Identify obstacles blocking direct achievement and design intermediate objectives to overcome each
version	1.0.0
category	experiment-execution
type	strategy
sops	["obstacle-identification","intermediate-objective-design"]
tactics	["task-decomposition"]
dependencies	{"sops":["intermediate-objective-design","obstacle-identification"],"tactics":["task-decomposition"]}

Strategy: Prerequisite Planning

Key Question: What obstacles are in the way?

Methodology

Theory of Constraints (TOC) Prerequisite Tree + Transition Tree:

1. Prerequisite Tree (PRT) — identify obstacles preventing direct achievement of the objective
2. Intermediate Objectives (IOs) — design actions that overcome each obstacle
3. Transition Tree — sequence IOs into executable steps with cause-effect logic

Execution Flow

[Objective from experiment design]
    → obstacle-identification (PRT)
        → intermediate-objective-design (IOs for each obstacle)
            → [sequence IOs by dependency]
                → OUTPUT: ordered list of IOs with obstacle-IO mapping

Budget Gate

Step	Max Budget	Output
Obstacle identification	10%	Complete obstacle list
IO design	10%	IO for each obstacle

Key Decisions

• If an obstacle cannot be overcome: escalate to experiment redesign (return to Campaign 3)
• If multiple IOs address same obstacle: choose simplest (Occam's razor)
• If IOs create new obstacles: recurse (but limit depth to 3 levels)

Integration with Critical Path

Obstacles identified here feed back into the critical path:

• Each IO becomes an activity in the network
• IO dependencies become edges in the activity graph
• This ensures the plan accounts for real-world blockers, not just ideal-path tasks

Available Tactics

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

Tactic	When to use
task-decomposition	Orchestrate the breakdown of experiment design into sequenced, estimated, and formatted task plan

Available SOPs

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

SOP	When to use
intermediate-objective-design	Design intermediate objectives to overcome each identified obstacle
obstacle-identification	TOC Prerequisite Tree — list obstacles preventing direct achievement of the objective