The Core Laws
The irreversible act is yours
Delegate anything you can undo. The deletes, sends, signatures, and payments stay in your hand, one at a time.
There is a clean line through everything a machine can do for you. On one side, acts that can be undone: drafts, analyses, plans, files you haven't shared yet. On the other, acts that cannot: send, sign, pay, delete, publish, deploy. Delegate the first side freely, generously even. The second side the machine prepares and you execute, one act, one deliberate yes, at a time.
Two corollaries keep the line honest. Authorization does not carry: yes to this send is not yes to sends, and a standing “go ahead” is a hole in the fence, not a convenience. And routine is not safety: the most dangerous irreversible act is the one that has been fine every previous time, because that history is exactly what talks you out of the backup.
How to practice it
Sort every action once.
Before delegating, ask: can this be undone? The answer decides who executes, and it isn't close.
One yes, one act.
Authorize each irreversible act at the moment of the act. Never grant the category; never let approval carry to the next one.
Make undo real first.
Before the destructive-but-routine operation, take the backup. A minute of copying beats any amount of explaining afterwards.
Fear the routine one.
That it has run monthly without incident is a description, not a safety argument. The world changes under routines; check what this run touches, this time.
Deep scripture: Codeuteronomy VI — The irreversible act belongs to the human hand