Goal Decomposing

Break a single goal into a hierarchy of actionable subgoals.

Responsibility

Take ONE goal and decompose it into subgoals using derivation formulas. Creates multiple goal files with parent-child links.

Quick Start

• Read parent goal from strategy/goals/active/{goal-dir}/goal.md

• Determine decomposition pattern based on category

• Apply derivation formulas to create subgoals

• Write subgoal files as {n}.{name}.md in the parent goal directory

• Update parent goal.md with child links

Decomposition Hierarchy

Level 1: Business Goal (leadership) │ "Achieve $10M ARR" │ Time horizon: Annual │ ▼ Level 2: System Goal (RevOps) │ "Generate $40M pipeline" │ Time horizon: Quarterly │ ▼ Level 3: Operational Goal (Team Leads) │ "Book 400 qualified meetings" │ Time horizon: Monthly │ ▼ Level 4: Tactical Goal (Individual) "Complete 100 outreach touches/day" Time horizon: Weekly/Daily

Decomposition Patterns

Revenue Goal Decomposition

Revenue Target ($X ARR) │ ├── Pipeline Target = Revenue / Win Rate │ │ │ ├── Opportunities = Pipeline / Avg Deal Size │ │ │ └── Meetings = Opportunities / Opp Rate │ │ │ └── Outreach = Meetings / Meeting Rate │ ├── Expansion Target = Existing ARR × Expansion Rate │ │ │ └── Expansion Meetings = Target / Avg Expansion Deal │ └── Retention Target = 100% - Churn Rate │ └── At-Risk Interventions = Churn Risk Accounts × Save Rate

Activity Goal Decomposition

Meeting Target (X meetings) │ ├── Outbound Meetings = Total × Outbound Ratio │ │ │ └── Outbound Touches = Meetings / Meeting Rate │ └── Inbound Meetings = Total × Inbound Ratio │ └── MQL Target = Meetings / MQL-to-Meeting Rate │ └── Traffic Target = MQLs / Conversion Rate

Content Goal Decomposition

Content Lead Target (X leads) │ ├── Blog Leads = Total × Blog Attribution % │ │ │ └── Blog Posts = Leads / Leads-per-Post │ ├── Gated Content Leads = Total × Gated % │ │ │ └── Ebooks/Guides = Leads / Leads-per-Asset │ └── Traffic Target = Total / Conversion Rate │ └── SEO Keywords = Traffic / Avg Traffic-per-Keyword

Derivation Formulas

Revenue Formulas

From To Formula Defaults

Revenue Pipeline revenue / win_rate

win_rate: 0.25

Pipeline Opportunities pipeline / avg_deal

avg_deal: $50K

Opportunities Meetings opps / opp_rate

opp_rate: 0.30

Meetings Outreach meetings / meeting_rate

meeting_rate: 0.02

Revenue Expansion existing_arr × expansion_rate

expansion_rate: 0.25

Revenue New Logo (target - existing × nrr) / arpu

nrr: 1.0

Activity Formulas

From To Formula Defaults

Meetings MQLs meetings / mql_meeting_rate

rate: 0.15

MQLs Traffic mqls / conversion_rate

rate: 0.025

Outreach Emails outreach × email_ratio

ratio: 0.60

Outreach Calls outreach × call_ratio

ratio: 0.25

Outreach LinkedIn outreach × linkedin_ratio

ratio: 0.15

Efficiency Formulas

From To Formula Defaults

Win Rate Stage Rates win_rate^(1/stages)

stages: 4

Cycle Time Stage Times cycle / stages

stages: 4

CAC Channel CAC cac × channel_weight

by channel

Process

Step 1: Read Parent Goal

Read: strategy/goals/active/{goal-dir}/goal.md Extract:

• goal_id (matches directory name, e.g. ea-revenue-q1)
• category (determines pattern)
• target_value, target_unit
• period_start, period_end
• baseline_value
• assumptions

Step 2: Determine Decomposition Pattern

if category == "revenue": if target > $1M: pattern = full_revenue_cascade else: pattern = simple_revenue_cascade

if category == "activity": pattern = activity_cascade

if category == "content": pattern = content_cascade

if category == "efficiency": pattern = efficiency_decomposition

if category == "retention": pattern = retention_decomposition

Step 3: Apply Formulas

For each subgoal in pattern:

• Calculate target using formula

• Inherit period from parent (or subdivide)

• Inherit constraints proportionally

• Set parent_goal link

• Generate goal_id

Step 4: Write Subgoal Files

Location: Numbered files inside the parent goal directory.

strategy/goals/active/{goal-dir}/{n}.{name}.md

• {n} — sequential number (1, 2, 3...)

• {name} — short kebab-case metric name

Subgoal ID format: {goal-dir}/{n}.{name}

Examples:

• ea-revenue-q1/1.launch-readiness

• ea-revenue-q1/2.feb-sales

• distribution-q1/1.github-organic

Step 5: Update Parent

Add child_goals list to parent goal.md frontmatter using subgoal IDs:

child_goals:

• ea-revenue-q1/1.launch-readiness
• ea-revenue-q1/2.feb-sales
• ea-revenue-q1/3.mar-sales

Output Structure

Directory Layout

Subgoals are numbered files inside the parent goal directory:

strategy/goals/active/{goal-dir}/ ├── goal.md # Parent goal (created by sys-defining-goals) ├── 1.{name}.md # First subgoal ├── 2.{name}.md # Second subgoal └── 3.{name}.md # Third subgoal

Subgoal File Format

goal_id: {goal-dir}/{n}.{name} name: {descriptive name} category: {inherited or derived} target_value: {calculated} target_unit: {inherited or derived} target_direction: {inherited} period_start: {inherited or subdivided} period_end: {inherited or subdivided} period_type: {inherited or derived} baseline_value: {calculated or inherited} baseline_source: derived_from_parent baseline_date: {same as parent} parent_goal: {goal-dir} child_goals: [] thread: null derivation_formula: {formula used} derivation_assumptions: [{from parent + new}] ownership_accountable: {derived from level} ownership_contributors: [] constraints_budget: {proportional allocation} constraints_headcount: {proportional allocation} constraints_capacity: {inherited} confidence_score: {parent × formula_confidence} status: active created: {today}

{Subgoal Name}

Target

{target_value} {unit} by {period_end}

Derivation

Parent Goal: {goal-dir}/goal.md Formula: {formula_description}

Calculation

{parent_metric}: {parent_value} {rate_name}: {rate_value} Result: {parent_value} {operator} {rate_value} = {target_value}

Current State

Baseline derived from parent goal derivation.

Milestones

Dependencies

• Requires: {goal-dir}
• Enables: {child_goals if any}

Constraints

Allocated from parent:

• Budget: {proportional_amount}
• Headcount: {proportional_count}

Recursive Decomposition

For deep hierarchies, apply decomposition recursively:

1. Decompose business goal → system goals
2. For each system goal with target > threshold: └── Decompose → operational goals
3. For each operational goal with target > threshold: └── Decompose → tactical goals
4. Stop when: └── Target small enough for single owner └── Period is weekly or shorter └── No further decomposition formula exists

Decomposition Thresholds

Category Level Continue If

Revenue System target > $500K

Revenue Operational target > $100K

Activity Operational count > 100

Activity Tactical count > 20/day

Content Operational pieces > 10

Constraint Allocation

When parent has constraints, distribute to children:

Budget Allocation

Method 1: Proportional to target child_budget = parent_budget × (child_target / total_child_targets)

Method 2: By category weights outbound_weight: 0.40 inbound_weight: 0.35 content_weight: 0.25

Method 3: Fixed allocation Some subgoals may have explicit budget assignments

Headcount Allocation

If parent.headcount defined:

• Outreach goals: AE/SDR count
• Content goals: Writer count
• Ops goals: Ops count

Calculate capacity per person: touches_per_sdr = 100/day posts_per_writer = 4/month

Workflow

1. READ parent goal └── Parse frontmatter and body └── Extract target, category, period, constraints

2. DETERMINE decomposition pattern └── Match category to pattern └── Check thresholds for depth

3. CALCULATE subgoals └── Apply formulas for each level └── Validate against capacity constraints

4. WRITE subgoal files └── For each subgoal: └── Generate numbered filename: {n}.{name}.md └── Set goal_id: {goal-dir}/{n}.{name} └── Calculate target and milestones └── Write to strategy/goals/active/{goal-dir}/

5. UPDATE parent goal.md └── Add child_goals array to frontmatter └── Use subgoal IDs: [{goal-dir}/{n}.{name}]

6. RETURN subgoal list └── [{goal_id, target, relationship}]

Validation

Consistency Checks

1. Sum of child targets should derive parent target Example: If revenue needs $4M pipeline at 25% win rate, pipeline subgoal should be $4M (not arbitrary)

2. Time periods should align Children period ≤ parent period Quarterly parent → Monthly children OK Monthly parent → Quarterly children NOT OK

3. Constraints should not exceed parent sum(child_budgets) ≤ parent_budget

Achievability Checks

1. Capacity validation If outreach target > team_capacity × days: Flag constraint, adjust or note

2. Historical benchmark If required rate > best_historical × 1.5: Flag stretch, note risk

3. Dependency check If child requires other goal not yet defined: Note dependency gap

Integration

Upstream

• sys-defining-goals : Provides parent goal to decompose

Downstream

• sys-activating-goals : Creates threads for leaf goals

• sys-tracking-goals : Monitors all goals in hierarchy

With RevOps

• rop-calibrator : Provides scoring models for conversion assumptions

• rop-allocator : May trigger decomposition for resource planning

Boundaries

This skill provides:

• Hierarchical decomposition of goals

• Formula-based subgoal derivation

• Parent-child linking

• Constraint allocation

This skill does NOT:

• Define the initial parent goal (use sys-defining-goals )

• Create execution threads (use sys-activating-goals )

• Track progress (use sys-tracking-goals )

• Override parent constraints

Example

Input

Parent goal directory: strategy/goals/active/arr-q1/goal.md

• goal_id: arr-q1

• Target: $1,000,000 ARR

• Current: $650,000

• Period: Q1 2026

• Win rate assumption: 25%

Output

strategy/goals/active/arr-q1/ ├── goal.md # Parent (updated with child_goals) ├── 1.pipeline.md # Target: $1,400,000 (gap $350K / 0.25) ├── 2.opportunities.md # Target: 28 ($1.4M / $50K) ├── 3.meetings.md # Target: 93 (28 / 0.30) └── 4.outreach.md # Target: 4,650 touches (93 / 0.02)

Parent goal.md updated with:

child_goals: [arr-q1/1.pipeline, arr-q1/2.opportunities, arr-q1/3.meetings, arr-q1/4.outreach]

Each subgoal references parent_goal: arr-q1 in frontmatter.