Prepare the smallest useful inquiry

State the holder, prospective later Work or concern, receiving situation, horizon, protected conditions and inquiry budget. Name what is known, what is merely suggested and which questions the inquiry may investigate. Include permissions needed for the inquiry itself; permission to read or ask is not permission to trial an intervention.

Do not demand a fully specified goal before discovery. “Explore a useful contribution to engineering handoffs in the next quarter” can be enough to begin if the possible receivers and stakes are recoverable. “Develop in AI” is not enough to end: it still needs a useful problem, contribution and dependency account.

A small reversible inquiry may use a few relevant source checks and conversations. A consequential commitment will need much stronger domain evidence, but that is not a reason to manufacture certainty during opportunity construction.