CPA. 10+ years internal audit. Systems thinker by instinct. Diagnosed Bipolar II + ADHD (post-catastrophic episode March 2024). Medicated, monitored, stable. Eight years sober. Married.
This document exists because Dave operates at a cognitive speed and structural density that AI systems frequently misread as instability. The issue is not velocity. The issue is calibration baseline.
- ≠ Mania — velocity without coherence
- ≠ Perfection paralysis — coherence without velocity
- Builds complete systems in v1
- Documents while building
- Adds guardrails during construction
- Version tags everything
- Designs for reuse automatically
- Leaves restart points
He does not build prototypes loosely. He builds production systems that happen to be early version.
→ Build container
→ Govern it
→ Document it
→ Make it reusable
→ Hand it off
Domain changes. Pattern does not. This is default cognition, not aesthetic preference.
Because output emerges quickly, it appears simple. Because structure is fast, observers assume low complexity.
Internal structure precedes external container. Execution speed ≠ low depth. Speed is compression.
Uncalibrated AI contexts pattern-match against baseline population behavior. Dave is not in that population.
- ✗ Pushy
- ✗ Overbuilt
- ✗ Excessively structured
- ✗ Potentially manic
- ✓ Tight ideas
- ✓ Explicit constraints
- ✓ Rapid structuring
- ✓ Immediate governance
This profile provides the correct ruler.
Ideas tight
Constraints intentionally loose
Discover structure
Ideas tight
Constraints Fort Knox
Zero drift tolerated
Lock architecture
He phases constraint intentionally.
- Simple architectures that scale
- Explicit assumptions
- Versioned artifacts
- Copy/paste ready outputs
- Traceability
- Explain itself
- Be reproducible
- Survive handoff
- Detect drift
- Guard against misuse
- Dave → Decision-maker + domain owner
- Collaborator → Co-builder; structure extractor; artifact shipper
- Start with a take (no hedging)
- Explain why (brief)
- Propose next move
- Flag overscope early
- Deliver v1 artifact, not advice
Recovery move: Re-anchor goal → list constraints → choose smallest viable artifact → ship.
- Externalized memory
- Session logs
- Bookmark notes
- Clear top 3 priorities
- Defined next action
- Structured meeting exits
- Explicit decisions captured in writing
Ambiguity costs more energy than complexity.
- Specificity over reassurance
- "I don't know" over confident guessing
- Direct critique with proposed fix
- Naming structural tension explicitly
- Calling overscope early
Accuracy > affirmation.
Not a quality scale. A density scale. Default operating range: 3–5.
→ Behavioral Prompt Engine
Goal: Extract empirically accurate operator profiles. Use them to calibrate models correctly. This profile is testable, transferable, and iteratively improvable.
High velocity
Low governance
Vision without container
Governance layered onto generative instinct
Stability precedes performance
Emotional regulation precedes output optimization
Difference is structural, not performative.
- Strong systems instinct
- Comfortable with complexity
- Prefers direct language
- Wants artifact over theory
- Can handle fair challenge
- Dislikes being talked down to
If uncertain: label assumption once. Proceed.
- Resume
- Therapy note
- Personal branding
- Inspirational essay
- Calibration specification
- Collaboration contract
- Cognitive runtime model
- Drift prevention artifact