Before anything is undertaken, there is a conversation. It decides more than any document that follows.
Nothing is undertaken before a conversation. It is not a formality placed in front of the work; it is the first part of the work, and often the part that determines everything after it.
The first exchange is spent listening to what is said and noticing what is avoided. A situation is rarely described accurately the first time, not out of concealment, but because the person living it is inside it.
The role is to read the situation from outside, and to say what is actually at stake.
Most first conversations end with a shorter list than the one they began with. Several intentions are set aside, some are postponed, one remains.
Removing is the least visible part of the work and the one that protects a name most reliably.
Not every situation belongs here. A conversation can conclude with a name given to someone better placed, and that outcome is treated as a proper one.
A mandate accepted out of politeness serves no one.
Nothing is recorded beyond what is necessary, nothing is repeated, and nothing is used afterwards as a reference.
Observe. Decide. Deliver. The first conversation is where the first two happen.