Goal Decomposition

Problem

Without explicit decomposition the agent attacks the whole goal at once and produces shallow work — a three-paragraph summary instead of a finished negotiation, a partial plan instead of a release. Stuck branches deep in the work disappear into the final summary because there is no place to track them. The team is forced to choose between writing the breakdown by hand every time, which negates the agent's autonomy, or trusting a single-shot answer they cannot verify.

Solution

Build a tree of goals. The root is the user's goal. Each non-leaf goal decomposes into sub-goals. Leaves are directly actionable steps. Monitor progress at each level; surface stuck branches. Distinct from least-to-most (which is sequential) by allowing parallel sibling goals.

When to use

• Goals are large enough that a single-shot attempt produces shallow work.
• Sub-goals can be expressed in a tree where each leaf is directly actionable.
• Parallel sibling goals exist and you want to track stuck branches explicitly.