one-thing

name	one-thing
description	Identify the single highest-leverage action that makes everything else easier — use when there are too many competing priorities and focus needs to be established before work begins
argument-hint	[goal or area where focus is needed]
user-invocable	true
license	MIT

Cut through complexity to find the one action that, if done, would make everything else easier or unnecessary. Based on the focusing question: "What's the ONE thing I can do, such that by doing it, everything else becomes easier or unnecessary?" 1. State the goal or area of focus 2. List all possible actions that could advance this goal 3. For each action, assess: does this make other actions easier or unnecessary? 4. Identify domino effects — which action unlocks the most subsequent progress? 5. Test the candidate: if ONLY this one thing gets done, was it worthwhile? 6. Define what "done" looks like for this one thing 7. Identify what to say "no" to in order to protect focus on the one thing

<output_format>

One Thing Analysis: [Topic]

Goal

[What we're trying to achieve]

Candidate Actions

Action	Domino Effect	Makes others easier?
[Action 1]	[What it unlocks]	Yes/Partially/No
[Action 2]	[What it unlocks]	Yes/Partially/No

The One Thing

[The single highest-leverage action]

Definition of Done

[What completion looks like — specific and measurable]

Say No To

[What to deprioritize to protect focus on the one thing] </output_format>

## One Thing Analysis: Improving Developer Onboarding

Goal

Reduce time-to-first-commit for new engineers from 2 weeks to 3 days.

Candidate Actions

Action	Domino Effect	Makes others easier?
Write comprehensive onboarding docs	New hires self-serve answers	Partially — still need environment to work
Fix the dev environment setup script	New hires have working code on day 1	Yes — unblocks everything downstream
Assign onboarding buddies	New hires get personalized help	Partially — buddies still fight the broken setup
Create a "first task" ticket template	Clear first contribution path	Partially — useless if environment isn't working
Record architecture walkthrough video	Context available on-demand	No — doesn't unblock the setup bottleneck

The One Thing

Fix the dev environment setup script. Every other onboarding improvement assumes the new hire has a working environment. A broken setup script means buddies spend their time debugging Docker instead of teaching architecture, docs describe a system the new hire can't run, and first tasks can't be attempted.

Definition of Done

A new hire can run make setup on a fresh laptop and have all services running with seed data in under 30 minutes. Tested by having someone outside the team follow the instructions.

Say No To

Pause the architecture video project and the onboarding doc rewrite until setup works. Both are wasted effort if people can't run the code.

Key Instructions

• If no candidate action dominates on domino effect, help the user identify the constraint blocking progress before forcing a single choice.
• The one thing must be within the user's control — not "hope the market changes" or "wait for someone else to decide."

Anti-Pattern Guards

1. Choosing the easiest action, not the highest-leverage one — quick wins often aren't domino actions; test each candidate against step 3 explicitly before selecting.
2. Anchoring too early — list all candidate actions before evaluating leverage; premature commitment skips higher-domino options.

Handoff

Chainable to: eisenhower-matrix (to slot the one thing alongside other demands), pareto (to validate the 80/20 leverage claim)