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Meaningful Progress

first principles of flow

Progress comes from taking bets evolutionary bets that create step improvements. Meaningful progress comes from linking outcomes to your soul.

Everything gets built twice, first in the mind and then in reality. Align intentions and energy to exert maximum force in the direction of collective purpose by recognizing potential, building belief and relentlessly focusing on distributing value.

Mantra

Pure intentions fuelled by desire drive evolution

Principles​

Use first principles to build trust while delivering value.

  1. Purpose: Define what progress looks like.
  2. Perspective: Interpret reality through alternative eyes.
  3. Problems: Have the courage to face the truth.
  4. Predictions: Anticipate trends and opportunities.
  5. Potential: Reimagine the future.
  6. Platform: Assemble assets and tools to gain leverage.
  7. People: Develop capabilities and deepen connections to build teamwork.
  8. Protocols: Evolve standards to optimize return from platform and people.
  9. Product: Distribute solutions that create value.
  10. Performance: Manage expectations while staying on course.
  11. Persuasion: Influence others to join your journey.
  12. Planning: Dedicate time, size your bets and manage risks.
  13. Reflection: Evolve your collective intelligence.

If you can't picture success or define value how will you know you are on the right path?

The Journey​

Life is a game of making choices (and sticking to them) or trying to influence the choices of others.

From the cradle to the grave, what are the common challenges to navigate on the path to living a fulfilling life?

The Critical Path​

Start with a clear picture of the desired outcome and work backwards to identify the critical path to success.

The Heroes Journey

Journey's need accurate maps and forecasts to ensure reliably successful navigation.

Problem Solving

Link your thinking so that others can follow and improve your Flow of Rhetoric

Value Stream Mapping​

Flow engineering is also a structured approach to improving delivery performance by combining clear goal-setting, comprehensive mapping, and data-driven decision-making.

  1. Start with a clear outcome: Begin by defining and clarifying your desired outcome using an Outcome Map. This helps align the team and stakeholders on the goal and contributing factors.
  2. Use balanced metrics: Employ a set of balanced metrics to measure both velocity and quality aspects of performance.
  3. Visualize the value stream: Create Value Stream Maps to visualize and measure the current, ideal, and target state workflows. This helps identify constraints and prioritize opportunities.
  4. Map dependencies: Use a Dependency Map to identify external factors affecting the team's performance and target dependencies to break or mitigate.
  5. Assess team capabilities: Create a Capability Map to understand internal factors affecting performance and identify areas for skill development or resource allocation.
  6. Prioritize improvements: Use the insights from all maps to create a prioritized list of initiatives, considering factors like impact and effort.
  7. Involve key stakeholders: Include representatives from all parts of the value stream in the mapping process to ensure diverse perspectives.
  8. Use collaborative tools: Leverage shared visual board tools for real-time collaboration during mapping sessions.
  9. Iterate regularly: Repeat the mapping process every 3-6 months to reassess progress and set new targets.
  10. Focus on qualitative measurement: Remember that qualitative measurement is often more valuable than purely quantitative metrics.
  11. Consider external facilitation: A skilled, outside facilitator can bring unbiased perspective and efficiency to the mapping process.
  12. Start with estimates: When beginning, relative measurements and team estimates are often sufficient to identify major bottlenecks and opportunities.
  13. Look beyond software teams: The 4x4 Method can be applied to improve outcomes in various areas, not just software delivery.
  14. Communicate visually: Use maps and visual representations to share understanding across different levels and departments in the organization.
  15. Connect improvements to outcomes: Ensure that all improvement efforts are clearly linked to the desired outcome defined in the Outcome Map.
Mantra

Expectation management is key to building trust and delivering value.

Feedback Loops​

Flow engineering is a cutting-edge approach to building AI agents that offers significant advantages over traditional prompt engineering. Better flow of decision making through better feedback loops frees your imagination for greater things.

  1. Enhanced cognitive functions: Flow boosts memory, reasoning, and creativity, allowing you to process information more efficiently, generate more alternatives, and evaluate them more critically.
  2. Faster subconscious processing: In a flow state, decision making shifts from conscious to subconscious processing, which is about 7 seconds faster. This allows for quicker, more intuitive decisions, especially in high-pressure situations.
  3. Reduced stress and emotional bias: Flow reduces stress levels and promotes positive emotions, helping you cope with uncertainty and avoid emotional biases that can negatively impact decision making.
  4. Increased motivation and commitment: Flow aligns your actions with your values and goals, increasing motivation to overcome obstacles and follow through on decisions.
  5. Improved pattern recognition: The subconscious mind activated during flow has almost unlimited capacity compared to conscious working memory, allowing for better pattern recognition and connections between ideas.
  6. Energy efficiency: Flow is an energy-efficient state, allowing you to think longer and harder about complex decisions without burning out.
  7. High-speed decision making: Flow is particularly beneficial for making rapid decisions in high-stakes situations, like in finance or sports.

Practice Good Habits​

Establish routines, rituals and mantra to evolve unconscious competence and leverage flow for better decision making:

  1. Create an environment conducive to flow by minimizing distractions and setting clear goals.
  2. Break down complex decisions into manageable steps.
  3. Engage in activities that match your skills and challenges to maintain focus.
  4. Practice mindfulness to stay present and prevent overthinking.
  5. Use flow for generating ideas and initial decision-making, but follow up with conscious evaluation and editing when out of the flow state.

Maintain a decision journal to improve thought processes and prevent reliving past mistakes.

Mantra

Breakthrough ideas come from connecting with the void, not with a screen.

Systems Engineering​

Engineer systems to fall into good habits under times of pressure and fatigue.

Flow​

All that matters is a state of mind.

Flow is a state of optimal experience when we are fully immersed and engaged in activities. Achieving flow leads to enhanced productivity, creativity, and satisfaction, making it a crucial outcome of making the correct decisions.

Individual Flow is characterized by intense focus, clarity of goals, a balance between challenge and skill, loss of self-consciousness, an altered sense of time, and intrinsic motivation. Achieving flow involves setting clear goals, matching challenges to skills, and minimizing distractions.

Collective Flow occurs when a group experiences flow together, often seen in team sports or collaborative projects. Key elements include shared goals, interdependence, communication, and trust. Strategies to achieve collective flow include aligning objectives and fostering communication.