Overview

The Cantilever handbook is a living library that explains how we do things at Cantilever. It is our “Operating System.”

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The handbook is public and shared at handbook.cantilever.co via Super.so.

🏅 Principles

Simplicity. Simple entries are easier to maintain and organize. Include only the information that is 100% necessary.
Flexibility. At Cantilever we hire smart people and expect them to be smart, so we do not provide specific instructions for a lot of processes. Instead we provide “riverbanks” of rules that say what to definitely do and what to never do and let each person color between those lines.
Atomic Structure. Ideally each aspect of how Cantilever works is described once and only once in the handbook. Try to avoid having overlapping entries that cover similar things.
Currency. We want the handbook to be fresh and to reflect our latest decisions and changes.
Transparency. We allow any Cantilever team member to edit the handbook. We share it with the world.

📏 Rules

✅ Do…

Write a handbook entry whenever there is internal confusion/questions about something non-trivial
Keep handbook entries terse and fast to read
Use AI to generate new handbook entries, so long as you read them fully and edit liberally.
Use only standard Notion formatting, similar to other entries that are already in place.

🚫 Don’t…

Spread knowledge about a single topic out between multiple locations. Try to centralize to a single location

Handbook Style

As of 2024 we have transitioned to a new Handbook entry style. The focus of the approach is on simplicity and maintainability. There are two types of entry in the Handbook now:

Concepts: Discrete things without our workflow and company, ex: ,
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Project
,
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Core Coverage
, or this entry,
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Handbook
Guides: Documents describing a process or practice at the company that touches many Concepts, such as:
Onboard a Client
,
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Core Team Wages
,
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Mission, Vision, and Values

Concept entries should typically be formatted like so:

Example Concept Handbook Entry

Guides are more freeform and you can structure them however you feel best to get the message across.

Whenever possible, when you mention the text of a concept within another entry, use an at-mention to link to the entry for that concept. This increases cross-linking within the

📓

Handbook

and helps minimize entry overlap. Generally you should not link to an entry from within that same entry, but I did so in the last sentence to provide an example.