# Module 01: How Claude Thinks
## Exercise: The Five Task Categories

Hand this sheet to participants. They sort 20 real workplace tasks into the five categories. Then they test one task from each category in Claude. The goal is to build an intuition for what Claude does well and where it struggles.

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## The Five Categories

| Category | What Claude Is Doing | Example |
|---|---|---|
| **Generation** | Creating new content from instructions | Writing a project update email |
| **Analysis** | Examining information and drawing conclusions | Reviewing a contract for risk |
| **Transformation** | Converting content from one form to another | Turning meeting notes into action items |
| **Extraction** | Pulling specific information from a larger source | Finding all dates mentioned in a 40-page report |
| **Reasoning** | Working through logic, math, or multi-step problems | Calculating whether a hiring plan fits the budget |

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## Sort These 20 Tasks

Write the category letter (G, A, T, E, R) next to each task.

1. Write a job description for a senior project manager ___
2. Summarize a 12-page vendor proposal into three paragraphs ___
3. Identify every compliance requirement mentioned in a new regulation ___
4. Draft three subject lines for a product launch email ___
5. Determine which of four office lease options is cheapest over five years ___
6. Rewrite a technical spec so a non-technical stakeholder can understand it ___
7. Find all action items assigned to "Sarah" in last month's meeting notes ___
8. Evaluate whether a proposed marketing budget allocation makes sense ___
9. Convert a CSV of customer data into a formatted summary report ___
10. Write a 500-word blog post about supply chain resilience ___
11. Review an employee handbook section for contradictions ___
12. Extract phone numbers and emails from a batch of business cards (text) ___
13. Determine the break-even point given these cost and revenue assumptions ___
14. Translate a customer support FAQ from English to Spanish ___
15. Create an onboarding checklist for new hires in the engineering team ___
16. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of a competitor's pricing page ___
17. Pull all dollar amounts mentioned in a 30-page contract ___
18. Figure out why our Q3 revenue forecast doesn't match our pipeline data ___
19. Turn a recorded interview transcript into a polished Q&A article ___
20. Write a polite but firm response to a vendor who missed a deadline ___

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## Answer Key (Facilitator Only)

1. G  2. T  3. E  4. G  5. R  6. T  7. E  8. A  9. T  10. G
11. A  12. E  13. R  14. T  15. G  16. A  17. E  18. R  19. T  20. G

**Note:** Some tasks blend categories. Task 2 could be Analysis or Transformation. Task 8 could be Analysis or Reasoning. The point is not to force a perfect answer. The point is to start thinking about *what kind of work* you are asking Claude to do, because the prompting approach changes by category.

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## Live Demo: One From Each Category

After the sort, pick one task from each category and run it live. Suggested picks:

- **Generation:** Task 1 (job description). Show how role + context produces a usable draft.
- **Analysis:** Task 16 (competitor pricing page). Upload a real screenshot or text. Show Claude's structured assessment.
- **Transformation:** Task 19 (transcript to Q&A). Use the sample transcript from `sample-interview-transcript.txt`.
- **Extraction:** Task 17 (dollar amounts from contract). Use `sample-contract-excerpt.txt`.
- **Reasoning:** Task 13 (break-even calculation). Use the numbers from `break-even-data.md`.