MEPX
Chapter 4 of 10All chapters

Chapter 4 of 10

Multi-step problems

Structure the work.

Steps

Asking for the working before the answer often improves accuracy on multi-step problems and makes the result checkable. Splitting a task into separate calls usually beats one long instruction.

  • The stated reasoning is a useful artefact, not a transcript of internal process.
  • For arithmetic, ask it to use a calculation tool rather than trusting the text.

Decomposition

Plan, then draft, then critique, then revise, as separate steps. Each stage gets a clean context and a single job, which is how most quality gains actually arrive.