Clean the Lint Filter by Work Shouldn't Suck
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Before Month 1 begins

Set the container before the work.

Session 0 is sixty minutes that teach nothing. They establish shared language, surface where each person is starting from, make the commitments explicit, and set up how you’ll track the daily practice.

Before You Begin

Session 0: Why We're Doing This

Establishing the container before the work begins

Before Month 1 starts, your team spends 60 minutes together doing four things: establish a shared language for what you are trying to build, surface individual starting points, make explicit commitments to the process, and set up how you will track the daily practice. This session does not teach anything. It creates the conditions under which the learning can land.

Session 0 Agenda (60 minutes)

Run of Show
0:00–0:10Opening “Why are we doing this?” Each person says in one or two sentences, uninterrupted.
0:10–0:25The case Read aloud or discuss the “Why This Exists” section. What resonates? What questions does it raise?
0:25–0:40Self-assessment Each person completes the Starting Point Survey below and shares one finding. Complete the Spot the Moment baseline too; you will re-take it in Month 7.
0:40–0:52Commitments What do we agree to for the next seven months? Write them down together. Make one commitment about the daily rep, not just the monthly sessions.
0:52–1:00Logistics & Measurement Confirm session dates, facilitator rotation if self-guided, meeting hooks, and how you will share monthly rep counts. Solo and self-guided participants name their backstop.

Commitments Starter Menu

The commitments conversation works better with a starting point than a blank page. Use what fits. Revise what almost fits. Add what is specific to your team. The goal is not to adopt this list. It is to produce a list this team wrote and means.

  • Speak from lived experience, not on behalf of groups or categories.
  • Distinguish impact from intent. Both matter. Neither cancels the other.
  • Do not weaponize the language of this curriculum. If you learn a word for something here, do not use it to shut down a colleague.
  • Name what exceeds this room. If something needs more support than a team session can hold, say so.
  • Expect awkwardness. This work is supposed to feel unfamiliar. Discomfort is not a sign that something is wrong.
  • Practice repair, not perfection. You will get things wrong. The commitment is to come back, not to never miss.
  • We will run the daily rep on most days, and treat a missed day as information, not failure.
  • We are in relationship, not just in process. How we do this matters as much as whether we finish it.

After writing your commitments: read them aloud together, once, before Month 1 begins. Keep them somewhere visible. Return to them in Month 7 and ask honestly: did we keep them?

Name your measurement and your backstop

The Starting Point Survey gives you a baseline now and a comparison in Month 7. Between those points, the thing worth tracking is whether the practice is happening. Agree on how you will share rep counts. Some teams post them on the team map. Some keep them private and report only a number at the monthly session. Pick something light. And if you are solo, name your accountability partner before Month 1. If you are a self-guided team, name who takes over a session if the person facilitating is too affected by what surfaces to continue.

Session 0 · Starting Point Survey

Getting Started

Complete this before your first group session. Bring it with you.

Starting Point Survey

Rate yourself 1 to 5. Answer privately before sharing with your team. 1 \= rarely true, 5 \= consistently true.

1. I address tensions with colleagues directly rather than waiting, venting elsewhere, or hoping they resolve on their own. 1 2 3 4 5
2. When I disagree with a decision, I say so in the room, not after. 1 2 3 4 5
3. I can stay curious and open when receiving difficult feedback. 1 2 3 4 5
4. I can describe what I am actually feeling in a conflict, not just what I am thinking. 1 2 3 4 5
5. When something goes wrong and I played a role in it, I acknowledge that directly. 1 2 3 4 5
6. I feel safe raising concerns with the senior people on this team. 1 2 3 4 5
7. When a colleague and I are in conflict, I address it within 24 hours rather than letting it simmer. 1 2 3 4 5
8. I can disagree with someone on substance without it becoming personal. 1 2 3 4 5

After sharing your scores with your team:

Where do your scores cluster? Where do they diverge? What does that tell you about your team’s specific starting point? If your best friend completed this survey for you, would they answer each question the same way you did?

Session 0 · Commitments

Our Commitments and Starting Point

Write your commitments together during it.

Why are you doing this?

In one or two sentences: what do you hope will be different for your team seven months from now?

Write your team's commitments here after the Session 0 conversation. Adapt the starter menu in the curriculum to fit your team.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Read commitments aloud together before Month 1 begins. Return to them in Month 7.

Signed: ____________________ Date: __________ Revisit date (Month 7): __________