The book
Builder
Someone who understands a problem and makes a situation better. Building isn’t another word for coding: support, sales, design, finance, operations, engineering and community work all count.
Card
A short page that carries one idea taken from real work. It reads in under two minutes and makes sense without the rest of the book.
Principle
What every card is. A principle names a common reflex and the builder’s move that replaces it. Principles are numbered within their capability.
⇄ mark
The mark of leader cards, written for the people who set the conditions of the work: time, access, decisions and recognition.
Capability
One of the ten areas that organise the book: the mindset, the craft, autonomy, understanding, delivery, ownership, systems, leverage, leadership, and being the reference. The capabilities are bearings, with no ranking and no required order.
Path
One of four ways into the book, by intention: start building, get better at your practice, grow a team, or back other builders. Each path gives three cards and a first attempt. See the four paths.
The test
Step
A capability as the builder test measures it. The ten steps follow the order of the book, from the mindset (step 1) to being the reference (step 10), each with five questions.
Solid step
A step whose answers average at least 2.2 out of 3, and whose “last time” question scores 2 or more. Below that and from 1.2, the step is under way.
Builder level
The highest solid step, with at most one step below it that is neither solid nor limited by your setting. It reads as one of five bands, and its cut-offs are provisional.
Band
The five readings of the builder level, two steps each: you are laying the foundations, you move on your own, you ship and answer for the result, you make next time easier, and you grow other builders.
Move
A concrete practice attached to each question of the test, what you can try next. The moves of your next step are the ones the result suggests.
Line of work
The proposal you choose after the test: a step, an intention, a plan to adapt to your situation, and three cards from the book. It does not change your level.