Initiatives
Goal-oriented pushes with a target date and a definition of done.
When to use an initiative
An initiative is the right shape when work has a clear outcome and a ship date. “Launch v1,” “Migrate auth to Clerk,” and “Ship the mobile app” are all initiatives.
If work is perpetual (no end) choose a workstream instead. If it's time-boxed but the goal is a batch of tasks rather than a single outcome, choose a cycle.
Fields
- Status — planned / active / shipped / cancelled
- Target date — when you plan to ship
- Definition of done — the exit criteria
- Assignees — who owns it
Definition of done
The DoD is a short free-text block that captures the acceptance criteria for shipping. It's intentionally unstructured — anything from a bullet list to a paragraph works. Make it clear enough that anyone on the team can tell whether the initiative is done.
Shipping an initiative
When the DoD is satisfied, move the initiative to shipped. Based keeps the record — you can look up what shipped when, and which tasks rolled up into it.