# Clarity

> Checks whether a project, feature, or team is running blind or running with clarity -- Pillar 1 of The Five Pillars (vision, strategy, measurement). Use when kicking off a project, when a team can't agree on why a feature matters, before writing a strategy doc, or as a quarterly health check.

- Skill: `clearmeasurelabs/clarity` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add clearmeasurelabs/clarity`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/clearmeasurelabs/clarity/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: ClearMeasureLabs (https://skillmd.com/u/clearmeasurelabs)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/clearmeasurelabs/clarity

---


# /clarity -- Create Clarity

**Pillar 1 of The Five Pillars.** Checks whether a project, feature, or team is running blind or running with clarity.

## When to invoke

- Kicking off a new project or engagement
- A team can't agree on why a feature matters
- Before writing a strategy doc, ask this first
- Quarterly, as a health check on an ongoing project

## What it checks

1. **Vision / Mission / Purpose** -- Can the team state, in one sentence, why this software exists and who it serves? Ask 2-3 team members independently; compare answers.
2. **Strategy / Plan** -- Is there a written path from today to the vision that goes below the executive/management layer? Has the team had a chance to critique and strengthen it?
3. **Measurement** -- Is there a scorecard today, even if some numbers are zero? Is it reported on a fixed cadence (weekly is the book's recommendation)?

## Inputs

There's no API for this one -- clarity lives in people's heads, not a system.
Source it from whatever is available, in this order of preference:

1. **Direct answers** -- ask 2-3 team members the "why does this exist" question yourself (in chat, in a doc, or have the user relay answers) and compare them.
2. **Written artifacts** -- a README, strategy doc, project charter, or wiki page pasted in or found in the repo.
3. **Absence** -- if neither exists, that absence *is* the finding for Vision/Strategy; say so rather than guessing.

## Example output

> **Clarity scorecard -- Project Atlas**
>
> | Sub-pillar | Score | Finding |
> | --- | --- | --- |
> | Vision | 🟡 Yellow | 2 of 3 team members gave the same answer ("faster onboarding for new hires"); the third said "whatever the backlog says." |
> | Strategy | 🔴 Red | No written plan below the PM's head -- engineers can't say what happens after this quarter. |
> | Measurement | 🟢 Green | Weekly scorecard exists (`#atlas-metrics` channel), tracking onboarding time-to-first-commit. |
>
> **Biggest gap:** Strategy. **Fastest fix:** PM writes a one-page plan (this quarter → next → the vision) and reviews it with the team this week, not just the leads.
>
> **Draft vision statement (adopt or edit):** "Atlas exists so a new engineer can ship their first PR in under a day."

## Reference

See [../../docs/FIVE_PILLARS.md](../../docs/FIVE_PILLARS.md#pillar-1-create-clarity----dont-run-your-project-blind).