Initiatives
An initiative is the top-level unit of work in Penling — a bounded piece of work with a clear outcome, a spec, and a plan.
An initiative is the top-level unit of work in Penling. It wraps everything related to a single idea: the brief, the focus areas that decompose it, the goals that anchor it, and the plan that sequences it.
What belongs in an initiative
An initiative should have:
- A clear boundary. You should be able to explain in one sentence what is and isn't in scope.
- A single primary outcome. An initiative that succeeds at two unrelated things is probably two initiatives.
- A finite lifespan. Unlike a product area or team, an initiative ends when the work is done.
Good candidates for an initiative: a new feature, a significant refactor, a migration, a performance improvement, a new integration.
Not good candidates: "improve the product," "fix bugs," "ongoing maintenance."
Initiative states
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Being scoped — brief written, focus areas being reviewed |
| Active | In build — plan generated, work underway |
| Complete | Done — outcomes met and verified |
| Paused | Temporarily halted — scope or priority has changed |
Workspaces and initiatives
Initiatives live inside a workspace. All workspace members can see all initiatives by default. Visibility settings allow you to restrict an initiative to specific members during sensitive scoping work.
Nesting and related initiatives
Initiatives are intentionally flat — there is no parent/child hierarchy.
Archiving
Completed or cancelled initiatives can be archived. Archived initiatives are hidden from the dashboard but remain fully accessible through search and the archive view. Nothing is deleted — the spec and plan are preserved.