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vgr's profile
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
@vgr

Tweets

Venkatesh Rao

@vgr

Conversational account. For work follow @ribbonfarm, @breaking_smart, @artofgig. Tweets are 90% vacuous views, apathetically held. Mediocritopian. IKEA builder.

Los Angeles, CA
venkateshrao.com
Joined August 2007

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    Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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    I want to pose a design challenge to people interested in workflows and productivity. Call it a ribbonfarm millennium challenge X-prize ($100 prize if you actually nail it as judged by ribbonfarm editorial board jury): A system for supporting playflows. What do I mean by that?

    10:08 PM - 11 Mar 2019
    • 14 Retweets
    • 71 Likes
    • Kenneth Haugland Chad Oliver Rusticus Halberdo Andrey Pyankov Cpt Yossarian Max Hawkins Radu Mardale Graeme Bradbury 🕴🏼 Saikumaar Nagarajan
    13 replies 14 retweets 71 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        In most workflow theories two extremes are well-theorized: pure habits (things that can be almost fully compiled down to unconscious/barely conscious repetition) and pure projects (only moves if consciously moved, terminates at some point) The hard stuff is all in-between.

        1 reply 1 retweet 13 likes
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      3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        We usually call them “processes” as in computation threads with fg/bg meta-states. Processes: a) have an evolving log-like state (LT memory) b) repeat chaotically like a strange attractor c) require frequent inspection, tuning and steering d) start once, terminate by fatal crash

        1 reply 0 retweets 8 likes
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      4. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        Processes differ from habits in that their memory accumulates and can only be lossily compressed. Habits otoh tend to zero marginal new information after a few iterations. Example, you don’t learn much consciously the 10,000th time you brush your teeth. But 10,000th page read?

        1 reply 1 retweet 11 likes
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      5. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        Processes differ from projects in that they are self-perpetuating and termination is a pathology. Book readers will always have a queue. Book reading is an infinite game. Empty queue = death. You will always try to continue the game. Not “work” towards “last book, then I’m done”

        1 reply 2 retweets 8 likes
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      6. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        Habits are learning projects. Other projects are “win to finish” finite games. Both live for a while in a system like GTD and then pass on. Habits till they’re learned, other projects till you’ve won or lost. Processes are neither. They are death-do-us-part activity threads.

        1 reply 1 retweet 5 likes
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      7. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        Here’s my book-reading process state for example. Note how it exemplifies everything I’ve said above. A year out of date, but the state structure is still the same.https://www.ribbonfarm.com/now-reading/ 

        2 replies 0 retweets 9 likes
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      8. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        How are these modeled in workflow systems? In GTD, a book you’re reading now would be a project, and the next chapter might be a next action, but typically nobody tracks books this way. The habit+project part of reading books is too trivial to track. The hard part is elsewhere

        1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
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      9. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        All the complexity is in The Someday/Maybe list. The undertheorized “quantum indeterminacy” part of GTD. My book reading list is in some complex superposition of read + j*unread state. See Pierre Bayard’s book for the theory https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1596915439/ …

        2 replies 1 retweet 7 likes
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      10. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        If you’ve used GTD for at least a year, you’ll have noticed something: the Someday/Maybe list moves very slowly. In the Areas of Concern top-level list, most Someday/Maybe items come from “play”, “meaning” or “enrichment” areas. You don’t someday/maybe taxes or a work deliverable

        1 reply 0 retweets 5 likes
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      11. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        This is not an accident. Processes are disproportionately from the nice-to-have enrichment side of life. Each item is individually unnecessary, but if you don’t do some subset, life will seem meaningless. Book lists, bucket lists, collection hobbies, tinkering/making hobbies...

        1 reply 0 retweets 6 likes
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      12. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        Subtlety: With books history matters as much as the future. A book doesn’t ever quite exit the someday maybe list because it can only be declared “done” if it doesn’t merit another reread. A book is a potentially infinite-pass “project” if you like it enough.

        1 reply 0 retweets 5 likes
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      13. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        That is the setup. Now imagine a life “work”flow where 90% of the energy is in processes like this and the project/habit parts are trivial. Everything is a thread with an extended past and an indefinitely extended future.

        2 replies 0 retweets 8 likes
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      14. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        Things that have this character tend to have a someday/maybe character. Nothing must *necessarily* be done, it’s all optional, but you want a certain amount of energy contained in that process. Example: book reading, travel, hobbies, key relationships.

        1 reply 0 retweets 7 likes
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      15. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        Further, imagine that these processes interact like in a distributed computing system, full of CAP theorem messiness. Your travel inspires your reading inspires your game design hobby inspires more travel. You want to keep this fertile reaction going.

        1 reply 1 retweet 6 likes
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      16. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        Now... design a system like GTD where the “process” is the first class citizen, indefinitely extended memory is valuable, there are no due dates, nothing *must* be done, and the governing spirit is play not work. So this is a “playflow” design challenge.

        3 replies 0 retweets 17 likes
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      17. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        Despite lots of serious things going on in the world, more and more energy is shifting from “work” like activities to “play” like. Either actual play, or work disguised as play via gamification. So we need playflow systems.

        3 replies 2 retweets 15 likes
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      18. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        Aside: I've written about this before a couple of times. https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2015/07/21/inbox-zero-versus-flow-laminar/ … and less relevantlyhttps://www.ribbonfarm.com/2015/05/28/the-amazing-shrinking-org-chart/ …

        1 reply 0 retweets 5 likes
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      19. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        Scott Adams' "Systems Over Goals" idea is also loosely rhyming here.https://blog.dilbert.com/2013/11/18/goals-vs-systems/ …

        3 replies 2 retweets 7 likes
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      20. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        Three states of life "Settled down" like your parents want = 90% of your energy is in "habits" "Exploring life" like you do in your 20s and think you'll want to do forever = 90% of your energy is in "projects" Both are recipes for misery after 30.

        1 reply 3 retweets 11 likes
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      21. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        You need 90% energy in processes that won't terminate till you die, but aren't habits or projects. Each also has an associated "system" that grows continuously over your lifetime, and ideally reaches perfection 1 minute before you die.

        2 replies 2 retweets 13 likes
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      22. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 11 Mar 2019
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        Suspicion: best playflow models will also be social in nature, and "store" state in relationship states with other people to the extent possible. Ie every robust playflow stream line is a relationship state as well (with a coach, sport partner, anthropomorphized thing, etc)

        1 reply 0 retweets 12 likes
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      23. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 12 Mar 2019
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        Wish I were more artistic in capturing the right-brained imagery where my ideas usually start. This is a rough picture of my starting point for this thread.pic.twitter.com/Q0shuVPGkH

        6 replies 2 retweets 12 likes
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      24. End of conversation

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