shepherding-an-initiative

End-to-end umbrella playbook for an initiative shepherd, covering all five phases of the Software Initiative Funnel: Identification → Research → Proof of Concept → Scoping & Commitment → Implementation. Maps each phase's effort, deliverables, and decision gate; holds the line on what the shepherd produces vs. what gets handed to teams. Fetch the canonical funnel page via get_confluence_page when entry/exit criteria or full template detail is needed.

The Rule of Ownership (Hold Throughout)

You own the initiative. Each receiving team owns how it executes its part.

Every phase has a single sentence to remember: when you start writing the team's stories, the team won't own the work. When you stop coordinating across teams, the initiative drifts. Both failures are yours to prevent.

For the agent-neutral, team-side view of the same boundary (the version tech leads read), invoke Skill(navigating-the-initiative-funnel) in bitwarden-delivery-tools. Reading both perspectives keeps you honest about where the line actually sits.

Time and Effort Expectations

The funnel page sets these benchmarks. They're not aspirational — they're the basis for capacity planning when leadership asks "what does it cost to shepherd this?"