Note-taking

In Part 14 we looked at the potential for massively increasing our bandwidth by creating personal productivity networks These networks are made up of packets of work that move between nodes where some kind of intelligence is applied whether human or software based

But what does it look like to operate such a

In Part 13 we looked at the benefits of Component Thinking which involves thinking of any product we are working on as made up of subcomponents which can be evolved or swapped out over time

Now I d like to take a step back and consider the big picture of what it means

In Part 12 I described the shift from a just in case to a just in time philosophy of work using late starts as an example of the benefits it offers

But if nearly everything can be done later and there are major benefits to doing so one question comes to the forefront

In Part 11 I introduced the concept of a critical path of tasks in a project and the rationale for pushing tasks as late as possible on the timeline

The late starts approach inspires a tremendous amount of resistance especially from creative knowledge workers It sounds an awful lot like taking control from

In Part 7 I argued for the importance of interacting with information instead of just passively consuming it Interaction results in better learning at the same time as it creates valuable deliverables

But incorporating all these new ideas about how work is completed flow cycles and intermediate packets downscoping and evolving deliverables interaction

In Part 6 I recommended treating any deliverable whether it s a simple email all the way to a full fledged product as a series of evolutionary artifacts each one intended to test an assumption or make forward progress

But there is a deeper reason for downscoping deliverables and then evolving them through

In Part 5 I introduced The Iron Triangle of Project Management and the idea that any given deliverable can be reduced or expanded in scope at any time

How should you use this newfound ability You should use it to

Get started
Maintain momentum
Test assumptions

In Part 4 I introduced the idea of intermediate packets Instead of delivering value in a big project that spans huge amounts of time we want to deliver it in smaller chunks at more frequent intervals

This follows a basic principle that has revolutionized many industries small batch sizes

In Part 3 I argued that having a personal knowledge base is the linchpin of success in a creative economy

A knowledge base allows you to reuse past work draw from past experiences share your knowledge in concrete form and eventually build products and services out of that knowledge

This requires