<aside> ℹ️ Before trying this exercise, read through the example in Introducing Hard Steps.

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Writing your first story

At the beginning of learning to identify hard steps, it's best to do it in pairs. Your partner can help you figure out where you might need to zoom in and tell a more detailed story.

1️⃣ Write Out a Detailed Story

...about a time you were able to live by your value in something like a similar environment.

Try to capture everything that made this possible.

• What kind of relationship did I have with the person at each stage?
• What kind of information and what kind of actions allowed me to advance in the direction of this relationship?
• Try to capture all of the information you needed. All of the actions you took and every step where the State of Play including your relationships and roles shifted

2️⃣ List Out the Hard Steps

Highlight the "hard steps"—the things that'd be difficult to do in other environments, and without which, you wouldn't have been able to live by the value.

Then put them in buckets and generalize them, as I did above.

3️⃣ List Out Possibly Important Features

... as I did in the example.

<aside> 👉 Step Sketch #1 — Relationships

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