This lesson is being recorded
Every video of this course is being uploaded to my YouTube channel. Subscribe so you do not miss it.
Bruno Ashford @brunoashfordSubscribeModule 3 · Lesson 3.2 · 12 min
Explore, Plan, Execute, Review
Adopt the four-step loop Anthropic recommends for developers and use it for any business task.
Use ← → to move. The marker highlights text and the pencil draws on the slide; navigation locks while you annotate. Undo removes the last mark, Esc exits.
1Explore: let it read without acting
Point Claude at the files and the question, and forbid changes. The goal is understanding, not output. This is where it catches the missing month or the duplicate customer.
I want to understand why revenue dropped last quarter. First, read the files in the sales folder and tell me what data we have, what the columns mean and anything that looks wrong. Do not write any files yet.2Plan: ask for the approach before the answer
Switch to plan mode with Shift+Tab, or simply ask for a plan. A good plan lists the steps, the files it will create and the checks it will run. Edit the plan like you would edit a junior's outline.
Now propose a step-by-step plan to answer the question. Include what you will calculate, what files you will create and how you will check your numbers. Wait for my approval.3Execute: approve and let it work
Once the plan is right, approve it. Claude will carry out the steps, asking for permission where it needs to write files. Let it run and resist the urge to interrupt every ten seconds.
The plan is approved, with one change: split the results by product line as well as by month. Go ahead.4Review: make it check its own work
Before you read the result, ask Claude to verify it. Totals should reconcile, every claim should point to a file, and anything uncertain should be labelled. Then you review with fresh eyes.
Review your own work before I read it. Do the totals match the source files? Which numbers are you least sure about? List anything I should double-check by hand.5Start fresh for the next task
When a task is done, type /clear before starting something unrelated. A clean conversation gives better answers than one full of old details, and it costs less.
/clearHere is a truth that hurts: most bad AI output is not the AI's fault. It is the result of asking for the final answer before anyone has looked at the problem. You would never let a new manager rewrite your pricing on day one without reading the numbers first.
Anthropic's own guidance for developers is to explore first, plan second, then build, then verify. It works just as well for a sales report, a price review or a client audit. Four steps, every time, and your hit rate goes up dramatically.
Key points
- Explore first: no output until Claude understands the data.
- Plan second: approve the approach, not just the answer.
- Execute third: let it work without micromanaging.
- Review last: make it check itself, then you check it.
- Use /clear between unrelated tasks.
Avoid
- Skipping straight to execute because the task feels simple.
- Approving a plan you did not actually read.
- Running five unrelated tasks in one long conversation.
- Treating the review step as optional when numbers go to a client.
Dave's roofing company had a quiet spring and he assumed it was the weather. In the Explore step, Claude read two years of job records and noticed that quotes sent had held steady while quotes accepted fell by about a third. The Plan step focused the work on follow-up timing. The Review step caught that 11 jobs were logged twice. The real answer was slow follow-up after quotes, not rain, and it took one afternoon to find.