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Todd Grotenhuis

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    The PARA Method

    📚 Finished Reading: The PARA Method by Tiago Forte

    Recommended

    00 Inbox

    01 Projects

    02 Areas

    03 Resources

    04 Archives

    I’ve been using this organization and planning method for a few months and have found it both useful and flexible. It has just about the right blend of “friction” and “flow”, meaning that it is not so easy to use that it leads to overcommitment and overwhelm, nor so hard to use that I avoid it or feel overly slowed down.

    The ability to easily restart (without losing anything) is a huge plus for those of us who feel the frequent temptation of starting over or trying new systems. The aforementioned sweet spot also helps prevent system switch.

    The one thing I don’t feel like it satisfactorily addresses is “in which of my places is that Inbox, Project, Area, Resource, or Archive?”. I’m tempted to make one storage location my “main” with some sort of index, but don’t want to overwhelm the system. How have you addressed this?

    My Reading Highlights and Notes

    INTRODUCTION How to Read This Book

    PROMISE #1: You will stop wasting time looking for information: You will know exactly where your most important notes and documents live, and how to find them in seconds.

    PROMISE #2: You will gain greater focus on what matters most: You will have greater clarity about what’s important so you can intentionally move your life into alignment with your interests and goals.

    PROMISE #3: You will make things happen: You will consistently finish what you start, beating procrastination and tapping into your past learning to make progress fast.

    PROMISE #4: Your creativity and productivity will soar: You will have access to a playground of your own ideas to finally do the creative work that’s been locked up inside you.

    PROMISE #5: You will beat information overload and FOMO: The fear of missing out on a key piece of information will disappear and be replaced with the confidence that you have everything you need to get started.

    PART 1 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF PARA

    1 Introducing PARA

    Such a system would need to be incredibly easy to set up, and even easier to maintain. After all, only the simplest, most frictionless habits endure long term. Note: yet there is value in friction re: recall and evaluation. How to manage this tension?

    use it in every one of the many places where you store information. Note: OK, but how do I know which one it lives in? (this does not get answered satisfactorily.)

    Whether you want to save excerpts from a book you’re reading, Note: Seems like overkill if you make a lot of highlights…but then again, maybe they should go in 04 Archive if they are not useful.

    You have projects you’re actively working on—short-term efforts (whether in your work or personal life) that you take on with a certain goal in mind. Tags: definition

    You have areas of responsibility—important parts of your work and life that require ongoing attention more broadly. Tags: definition

    Then you have resources on a range of topics you’re interested in and learning about, Tags: definition

    Finally, you have archives, which include anything from the previous three categories that is no longer active but you might want to save for future reference: Tags: definition

    The system you use to organize information has to be so simple that it frees up your attention, instead of taking more of it. Your system must give you time, not take time.

    2 The Power of Organizing by Project

    there are two critical things you cannot do until you break down your areas of responsibility into specific, concrete projects.

    OBSTACLE #1: You Can’t Truly Know the Extent of Your Commitments

    OBSTACLE #2: You Can’t Connect Your Current Efforts to Your Long-Term Goals

    What does our motivation depend on? Mostly, on making consistent progress. We can endure quite a bit of stress and frustration in the short term if we know it’s leading somewhere.

    without a list of individual projects, you can’t connect your current efforts to your long-term goals.

    When you break down your responsibilities into bite-size projects, you ensure that your project list is constantly turning over. This turnover creates a cadence of regular victories that you get to celebrate every time you successfully complete a project.

    Using PARA is not just about creating a bunch of folders to put things in. It is about identifying the structure of your work and life—what you are committed to, what you want to change, and where you want to go. It is about organizing information in such a way that it supports and calls into being the future life you want to lead.

    3 The Sixty-Second PARA Setup Guide

    Step 1: Archive existing files Step 2: Create project folders Step 3: Create additional folders as needed

    STEP 1: Archive Existing Files

    The problem with keeping everything is that it quickly starts to consume a resource even more scarce than physical space: your attention. Tags: favorite

    select all the existing files, documents, folders, notes, etc. in your Documents folder (which may number in the hundreds or even thousands or more) and move them all at once into a new folder called “Archive [Today’s date].”

    Then, place this new dated archive folder inside another, larger folder titled simply “Archives,” which will be the official home of all your archives going forward.

    STEP 2: Create Project Folders

    For the second step, start by creating a new folder called “Projects.” This will be the official home of all your information related to projects (short-term efforts with a clear end goal) going forward. Inside that new folder, create a subfolder for each one of your active projects and title them with the name of each project.

    STEP 3: Create Additional Folders as Needed

    never create an empty folder (or tag, or directory, or other container) before you have something to put in it.

    follow the same three steps above with your cloud storage drive, notetaking app, and anywhere else you store information, Note: email, paper, photos, screenshots?

    Think carefully about what you want to save in all four categories of PARA. What is truly unique or useful? What do you need in front of you when you sit down to focus on a project or area? Which resources are truly valuable, and which could you easily find again with a Google search? Tags: reflection

    4 Five Key Tips for Making Organizing Easy

    TIP #1: Create an Inbox

    you need a separate time and place to “process” new items. I recommend creating an additional, fifth folder alongside the four we’ve already covered, on each major platform you use (such as your Documents folder, cloud storage drive, and notetaking app) with the title “Inbox.”

    TIP #2: Number the Folders

    I suggest adding the numbers 0–4 at the beginning of the titles for each of the five folders you now have. Using “0” for the inbox reminds you that its contents have not yet been processed. This keeps them in the right order from most to least actionable when they are sorted alphabetically.

    TIP #3: Use a Naming Convention

    It’s helpful if you can see a folder—on any platform, on any device—and instantly know which of the four main PARA categories it is in. I like to use an informal naming convention to make this possible, such as:

    • Emojis at the beginning of titles for project folders
    • Capitalized titles for area folders
    • Uncapitalized titles for resource folders

    TIP #4: Activate Offline Mode

    activate offline mode for just the Projects folder (and its subfolders) on each device you use while traveling, in transit, or when you just want to shut off the Wi-Fi and focus.

    TIP #5: Make Backups

    5 How to Maintain Your PARA System

    do all the upkeep of your PARA system in just five minutes per week. All you need to do is follow these three easy steps:

    • Retitle new items in your inbox
    • Sort new items into PARA folders
    • Update your active projects

    STEP #1: Retitle New Items in Your Inbox

    giving each item the shortest, simplest, easiest-to-understand title I can think of within a few seconds.

    Note that you likely have several inboxes you’ll need to do this for, such as:

    • An inbox you’ve created in your Documents folder (recommended in chapter 4)

    • An inbox for your cloud storage drive

    • An inbox in your digital notetaking app

      Note: email, paper, photos, screenshots?

    STEP #2: Sort New Items into PARA Folders

    I also find that briefly revisiting new information I’ve captured over the last week serves as a helpful reminder of any follow-up actions I need to take.

    STEP #3: Update Your Active Projects

    take a look at your project folders and make changes to reflect what’s happened over the past week. This could include actions such as:

    • Changing the name of a project to reflect a new scope or direction
    • Splitting a large project into smaller ones to make it more achievable
    • Archiving a project that has been completed, put on hold, canceled, or handed over to someone else
    • Unarchiving a dormant project that has since become active again and moving it back to the Projects folder

    Before archiving a project, scan it briefly for any material (such as brainstorms, background research, slides, interview notes, etc.) that might be relevant to other pursuits and move these items to the appropriate place within PARA.

    The Archive should be your starting point any time you launch a new project, do a personal year-end review, or update your résumé for a new job. It contains the supporting evidence you’ll need to successfully advocate for a raise or promotion, pitch a new client, or propose a bold new venture.

    PART 2 THE PARA PLAYBOOK

    6 How to Distinguish between Projects and Areas

    My definition of a project is any endeavor that has:

    • A goal that will enable you to mark it “complete”

    • A deadline or timeframe by which you’d like it done

      Tags: definition

    An area of responsibility has:

    • A standard to be maintained

    • An indefinite end date

      Tags: definition

    You also have areas of responsibility in your personal life, like your health, finances, personal development, and relationships,

    To put it simply: projects end, while areas continue indefinitely. Note: it seems the project goal/date and area standards should be uniformly included somewhere in the system. 0 file? Title?

    Every project typically falls under an area of responsibility.

    I’ve noticed most people tend to favor either projects or areas in the way they lead their lives. … Once you view your life through the lens of projects and areas, it becomes very clear that you need both: sprints to ramp up something new, and marathons to sustain it.

    7 How to Distinguish between Areas and Resources

    there is a big difference between things you are directly responsible for and things you are merely interested in. I use uppercase titles for areas and lowercase titles for resources to constantly remind myself that one is more important than the other.

    Areas are parts of our lives that require ongoing attention to uphold a certain level of quality or performance. It’s helpful to think of them as the “roles you play” or the “hats you wear” at work and in life. Tags: definition

    Resources encompass the vast number of things you might be interested in, curious about, or passionate about at any given time. Tags: definition

    Instead of asking, “Is this interesting?” which always results in overcollecting, I ask myself, “Is this useful?” That’s a much higher bar and forces me to consider what this piece of information will allow me to do that I couldn’t do otherwise, which problem it could help me solve, or which obstacle it might help me overcome. Tags: favorite

    Areas Are Private Whereas Resources Are Shareable

    Therefore, I recommend you think of your resource folders as “shareable by default.” That way you can share individual documents (or even entire folders) with others on the fly, without first having to comb through them for any personal details. Note: these should go in a different place, then, where they cannot be accidentally shared (via backlinks, etc.)

    We’ve all done it—some area of our lives feels too complex, uncertain, or confronting, so we throw ourselves at something else to take our mind off it. It feels great at first, distracting ourselves from pressing problems in favor of an exciting new hobby or research interest.

    8 Extending PARA across Multiple Platforms

    Technology is advancing too quickly on too many fronts for any one app to fulfill every need. Instead of fighting the tide and looking for “one app to rule them all,” use as many apps as you like, while replicating the same structure across every single one. I recommend doing so down to the exact same spelling, punctuation, and capitalization so that you can mentally transition between platforms as seamlessly as possible.

    I use the following rules of thumb to tell me which digital storage medium is best for any given piece of information:

    • If it’s an appointment or meeting happening at a specific time, it goes on my calendar
    • If it’s a task that I can complete anytime, it goes in my to-do list app
    • If it’s text, it goes in my notetaking app (since that offers the best search function by which to find it again)
    • If it’s content that I’ll be collaborating on with others, it goes in my cloud storage drive
    • If it can’t go in any of the above locations (because it’s too large or a specialized file type, for example), then it goes in my computer’s file system (the Documents folder)

    you should create a folder on any platform only when you have something to put in it.

    The landscape of productivity software is always changing, but that doesn’t mean your organizing methods have to be. If a feature you depend on stops working, or the policies or pricing of a platform unexpectedly change, that affects only one platform. With PARA, any risk or vulnerability is limited to just one part of your digital life and doesn’t automatically knock out all the others.

    9 Keep Information Flowing

    One final note: though my preferred method is to move notes and files wholesale from one place to another, you actually have four options for how to associate an existing piece of information with a new category:

    • Moving a single item (if only one item is relevant to a new project, for example)
    • Moving a folder full of items (if a whole group of items is relevant)
    • Linking two items together (if you want to keep the original item where it is)
    • Tagging items with the same tag (if you want to associate many items with each other without moving them)

    The only action I recommend avoiding at all costs is duplication: you never want to have two versions of a file or document, because then you never know which one is the most current.

    10 Using PARA with a Team

    It takes a lot of time and effort to articulate one’s knowledge in a form that can be understood by others. Since most staff aren’t compensated or evaluated for that effort, it always tends to fall by the wayside.

    RECOMMENDATION #1: Get clear on your organization’s flavor of PARA

    I suggest creating a “PARA Playbook” for your team that includes decisions such as:

    • What is our definition of a “project,” “area of responsibility,” “resource,” and “archive”?
    • What needs to happen when we kick off a new project for it to be considered “active”?
    • What needs to happen when a project gets completed, put on hold, or canceled (to be considered “inactive”)?
    • What are the officially supported platforms on which PARA will be used?
    • What are the rules, guidelines, and norms that govern how people will use PARA?
    • Who will be the “PARA Champion” who oversees its implementation and makes sure the guidelines are being followed?

    RECOMMENDATION #2: Train people in how to use PARA

    you will need to teach your people not only how PARA works, but how it works for your team.

    RECOMMENDATION #3: Keep only shared projects on shared platforms

    it takes a tremendous amount of cognitive effort to effectively communicate a piece of knowledge.

    I recommend advising your team to keep all their personal notes, files, and documents in their personal PARA system by default. Only when a project, area, or resource becomes collaborative, with multiple people involved, should it be moved to the shared folders in a company-wide PARA system.

    RECOMMENDATION #4: Encourage a culture of writing

    A high-quality piece of communication meets the following criteria:

    • Is it interesting and attention-grabbing? (Does it make people want to read it?)

    • Is it precise and clear? (Can people easily understand what it’s trying to say?)

    • Is it empathetic? (Is it written to be understood from the reader’s point of view?)

    • Does it help people solve a problem? (Is it clearly useful and effective?)

    • Does it inspire people to take action? (Does it make it easy for others to apply it?)

      Tags: favorite

    Set an example: Senior leadership and managers can set an example by regularly sharing their most important ideas and decisions in writing

    Offer incentives: Staff at all levels can be rewarded and praised when they take the time to express their thinking in writing

    Provide feedback: Direct reports can be offered private feedback on their writing drafts before sharing them more widely

    Set aside time for reading: Meetings can begin with “reading time” to emphasize that the context for discussions is best absorbed in written form

    Standardize: Adopt a standard term for an internal piece of writing (such as a memo, proposal, one-pager, or article) and create a standard template (such as a Google Doc or Notion page) for doing so

    PART 3 DEEP DIVES

    11 Creating a Project List

    Your Project List is a list of the outcomes you are currently committed to achieving, all in one place. It is an inventory of all the things you’re trying to produce, create, accomplish, or resolve. It’s like a to-do list, but on a bigger scale and longer time horizon so you can tell where you’re headed. It’s like a list of goals, but more practical and rooted in the here and now. Tags: definition

    STEP #1: List Your Current Projects

    Set a timer for five minutes (which is enough for a “first pass”) and write down anything that comes to mind when you read the following questions, whether they are work-related or personal:

    What’s currently worrying you? What problem is taking more mental bandwidth than it deserves? What needs to happen that you’re not making consistent progress on? What actions are you already taking that are part of a bigger project you’ve not yet identified? What would you like to learn, develop, build, express, pursue, start, explore, or play with? Which skills would you like to learn and which hobbies would you like to start? What kind of project could advance your career or make your life more fun or interesting? Tags: reflection

    STEP #2: Add a Goal for Each Project

    Take a minute and add a goal for each project on your list in parentheses.

    STEP #3: Add Deadlines or Timeframes

    Next, go through the list one more time and add completion dates. Don’t get hung up on whether this is a strict “deadline” or simply the date by which you prefer to have it done. You can add dates to each item on your list by adding “by…” at the end.

    STEP #4: Prioritize Your List

    The key here is to prioritize only for the upcoming week.

    For just next week, which projects should be taking up most of your mental bandwidth? Put those at the top. Which ones should be taking up little or none of your bandwidth next week? Put those at the bottom. Tags: reflection

    Your only goal in a given week is to make progress on a handful of projects near the top of that list.

    STEP #5: Reevaluate Your Project List

    Now that you have a full inventory of everything you’re committed to this week, you have the chance to ask some difficult but incredibly illuminating questions of yourself:

    Which goals or priorities you say are important to you don’t have any projects associated with them? (These are called “dreams,” since they aren’t likely to happen in the near term.) Which projects you’re spending a lot of time on don’t have any goals associated with them? (These are called “hobbies,” because without a goal in mind, they are likely “just for fun.”) Which projects can you cancel, postpone, reduce in scope, delegate, outsource, or clarify? Tags: reflection

    The five steps I’ve just taken you through can become part of a “weekly review.” You can walk through them once a week, or anytime you feel overwhelmed or stretched too thin, and I guarantee you’ll emerge in minutes with a newfound sense of clarity and purpose.

    12 The Three Core Habits of Organization

    We know our memories are weak, so we outsource remembering to technology as insurance against that fact.

    The only thing that will remain is the habits you adopt or change

    HABIT #1: Organize According to Outcomes

    always begin with the end in mind and work backward to decide only which information you’ll need to get there, and push everything else aside.

    HABIT #2: Organize Just in Time

    organizing by itself doesn’t add value. It has no inherent worth unless it puts you in a state of mind for taking effective action.

    HABIT #3: Keep Things Informal

    PARA requires precision in only one place: the definition of projects. Everything else is not only allowed to remain somewhat messy;

    Allowing some messiness and randomness into the system creates opportunities for very different ideas to be connected and intermixed.

    Organizing ideas according to outcomes ensures you’re actively testing them in the real world. Organizing just in time preserves your time and energy so you can pursue unexpected opportunities. And keeping things informal by default allows novel connections and patterns to form.

    13 Using PARA to Enhance Focus, Creativity, and Perspective

    Collecting information is easy, and we’ve seen that filing it away isn’t that hard either. But if you stop there, all this effort amounts to hoarding. Value doesn’t come from the inputs; it comes from your outputs, bearing your signature and style.

    It’s helpful to think of each main category of PARA as a “horizon.” Your projects exist on a short-term horizon that will play out in the coming hours or days. Your areas of responsibility and resources play out on a medium-term horizon over weeks and months. Your archives are more likely to be useful on a long-term horizon of months or years.

    These are the kinds of questions that are relevant on this short-term horizon: Which projects are most active right now? Which tasks are most time-sensitive? What are the next steps you need to take to move them forward? What information do you need access to in order to do so? Tags: reflection

    At these times of deeper reflection, ask yourself these questions: What is the standard (of quality or performance) I’m committed to in each of my areas of responsibility? Am I currently meeting that standard? If not, are there any new projects, habits, routines, or other practices I can start, stop, or change? Are there any resources that would enable me to do so? Tags: reflection

    When evaluating your resources, ask yourself questions like: Are there any new interests or passions I’d like to pursue more seriously? Are there any curiosities or questions I’d like to start exploring? Are there any hobbies or pursuits I’ve allowed to stagnate that I’d like to reboot? Tags: reflection

    14 When in Doubt, Start Over

    If you ever get stuck or feel overwhelmed, simply archive everything and start over following the instructions I provided in chapter 3.

    the act of declaring “digital bankruptcy” is an escape hatch that you can use anytime your digital world starts to become too chaotic and suffocating. I’ve done it countless times, and every time it fills me with a sense of relief and enthusiasm for what’s next.

    When it comes to your finances, there are serious consequences to declaring bankruptcy. But not in the digital world. There is no downside to archiving everything because it will all remain available in the future.

    15 Organizing as Personal Growth

    By surrounding yourself with information that provokes a feeling of fascination, you’ll begin to harness the incredible enthusiasm for learning and growth you have trapped inside.

    Power comes from systems that don’t depend on your energy levels, attention span, or self-discipline. That’s why PARA asks you to make one decision for each piece of information, and one decision only: When will this be relevant next?

    Don’t create a bunch of aspirational projects and goals that are merely wishful thinking.

    Wisdom Worker.

    ∞

    One Hundred Thousand Songs

    100,000 scrobbles!

    That means I’ve listened to at least that many songs since I started recording my listening history in 20081.

    Let’s have a look at my top Artists, Albums, and Tracks. 2 3

    Artists

    1. Klayton (Celldweller, Circle of Dust, Argyle Park, Criss Angel, Ap2, Brainchild and more) (3500+ plays): a talented multi-instrumentalist with a variety of excellent industrial-adjacent projects.
    2. Rhys Fulber (Front Line Assembly, Delerium, Fear Factory, Noise Unit, Rhys Fulber and more) (2700): multi-genre electronic musician, producer, and remixer.
    3. August Burns Red (1500): technical metalcore from Manheim, PA
    4. In the Midst of Lions (1300): most-likely my introduction to deathcore, and still one of my faves
    5. For Today (1200): unrelenting metalcore with a message
    6. Nine Inch Nails (1100): what could I say that you don’t already know?
    7. KMFDM (1100): the industrial rock giants
    8. Haste The Day (1000): local metalcore with some boppy anthems
    9. Opeth (1000): progressive death metal and prog rock
    10. Juno Reactor (900): genre-bending psytrance that you may know from Matrix soundtracks

    Together, these top artists still only account for roughly 15% of my listening. Check “artists” on my profile if you want to see more of the others.

    Albums

    1. In the Midst of Lions - The Heart of Man: I listened to this over and over when I commuted downtown 1 or 2 times a week. You can still catch me or my spouse belting out an epic growl of “Brood of Vipers!” from The Pharisaic Heart.
    2. For Today - Breaker: Energetic & hard-hitting without a dud on the entire album.
    3. The Crimson Armada - Conviction: Technical deathcore with choruses that beg you to sing along.
    4. August Burns Red - Constellations: This was the album that got me hooked on ABR.
    5. Broken Note - Terminal Static: Grimy industrial dubs. One of many groundbreaking breakcore-ish albums from the Ad Noiseam label.
    6. Zao - Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest: Not only one of my top-listened albums, but surely one of the best, as well. Incredible genre-defining metalcore. I even have the album cover as art.
    7. Katatonia - Dethroned & Uncrowned: The clever title for this soft4 version of their Dead End Kings album alone makes it worth a listen, but I find myself melancholically singing along to almost every track.
    8. DJ Hidden - The Later After: Threatening atmospheric drum & bass, darkstep. Another of the groundbreaking breakcore-ish albums from the Ad Noiseam label.
    9. Celldweller - Wish Upon A Blackstar: This is the moment Klayton hit his stride in creating albums as complete concepts.
    10. Flesh Field - Strain: To me, this is the most iconic sound of the “core” of industrial music. I really appreciate the drums, programming, and contrasting voices in this album.

    Edit: I made a glaring omission! The next album would have come in #3 if I had included the different editions as one.

    Argyle Park - Misguided: this was a super-controversial, way-ahead-of-its time album. It included people from Klayton’s musical circles, including his common collaborators (lvl, buka, Klank); Mark Salomon (of Stavesacre, the Crucified, Chatterbox, etc.); and others in the scene like Jyro (Mortal), J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus), Tommy Victor (Prong), and Lauren Boquette (Drown, Six). It’s a one-of-a-kind album.

    Tracks

    1. In the Midst of Lions - The Machine: I dare you to listen to this an never let out your own “stop…the machine!”
    2. For Today - Devastator: Same as above, but with “tear it to the ground!”
    3. Igorrr - Double Monk: This was one of those songs that threatened my understanding of a what a “song” could be (Igorrr has a way of doing that). This is one of those few songs that I’ve put on a single-song loop. Also, from another of the groundbreaking breakcore-ish albums from the Ad Noiseam label.
    4. The Crimson Armada - Juggernaut: I love all the contrasting vocal and instrumental elements that make the story of this song work so well. “You can rip out my tongue / And I’ll speak of His love. / You can pry out my eyes / And I’ll show off His love / You can tear off my flesh / I’ll share the warmth of his love”.
    5. August Burns Red - White Washed: I just love the sound of this one, honestly. (I think it may be about an argument between them and a straightedge band.)
    6. Broken Note - Mask of Gas: this track feels like a industrial warehouse dance-off with electronic and hip-hop groups.
    7. Living Sacrifice - Bloodwork: this is from my favorite era of LS. Two percussionists. The guitars were percussion. The vocals were percussion. Everything was percussion! What a fun track and album.
    8. Drumcorps - Down: Like Igorrr’s track above, this was one of those songs that threatened my understanding of a what a “song” could be (and is yet another from a groundbreaking breakcore-ish album from the Ad Noiseam label).
    9. Haste The Day - When Everything Falls: remember when I said that this metalcore band had some boppy anthems? (also, it’s a great way to end a show/concert/festival. e.g.)
    10. Flobots - Stand Up: This was one of the tracks that introduced me to the social, lyrical, and musical depth of Flobots.

    Your Turn

    Tell me about your faves? What should I be loading up in my Plex to play next?

    –

    1. There was a gap in recording centered around 2018 when I was having trouble scrobbling from Google Play Music. This was before Google killed that incredible service in favor of the far-inferior-but-cheaper-payouts-to-artists service YouTube Music. ↩︎

    2. “top” doesn’t necessarily mean “best” because, for example, it will favor prolific artists and music that’s been around longer. But it does mean they are things that I have repeatedly listened to and enjoy. ↩︎

    3. I’ll take a couple liberties that Last.fm doesn’t, like merging together musical acts related to the same musician or group, as well as only showing you the top album or track per artist (without repeats). ↩︎

    4. It’s like an acoustic version, but it’s not exactly “acoustic” either. ↩︎

    ∞

    Stop Looking Under the Streetlight

    This is a post is in the Useful Ideas series.

    You’ve likely heard some version of this joke/story:

    A policeman sees a drunk man searching for something under a streetlight and asks what the drunk has lost. He says he lost his keys and they both look under the streetlight together. After a few minutes the policeman asks if he is sure he lost them here, and the drunk replies, no, and that he lost them in the park. The policeman asks why he is searching here, and the drunk replies, “this is where the light is.”

    This metaphor has intriguing applications in various domains, but I’ve repeatedly encountered this phenomenon in technology and cybersecurity. A common pattern I observe goes like this:

    A: “I’m deeply concerned about X”

    B: “X is indeed a problem, but is it our most significant problem?”

    A: “Yes, we encounter it all the time.”

    B: “Y is a similar problem to X, but we lack sufficient visibility into it.”

    A: “But we often see X.”

    B: “…”

    I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t go after quick wins. (Creating momentum is often important.)

    I’m also not suggesting you wait until you have complete knowledge before you take action. (That can lead to analysis paralysis.)

    But I am saying to check whether your perspective is being skewed by your current visibility.

    ∞

    Good Criticism

    This is a post is in the Useful Ideas series.

    People sometimes say “it’s easy to criticize” but how easy is it to criticize well?

    Many of us often find ourselves in situations where we are called on to be critical. As a cybersecurity and product security leader, this is one of my core job duties! So, I thought I’d share some of the lessons I’ve learned (often, the hard way!) about criticism.

    Criticism is not the same thing as feedback

    While it’s tempting to think all the same rules apply, there are some different aspects to consider. I’ll write about giving useful feedback in a different post. If you’re in a mindset of giving constructive feedback, consider reading that commentary instead.

    Criticism is not about blaming

    Finger-pointing is rarely helpful. Good criticism seeks to get to the heart of the matter, so it often involves considering the context of the situation, the processes/structures/systems that produced the outcome, and the variety of factors that contributed. If you find yourself wanting to blame someone, check your motivations.

    Criticism is not for it’s own sake

    If the criticism isn’t leading to learning or change, then it is not valuable. If you are not prepared to help with that learning or change (whether through recommendations, support, or addressing a problem), it is not valuable. If it is not delivered to the people that are best positioned do something about it, then it is not valuable. If it is not delivered in a context and setting where the audience is receptive, then it is not valuable. If you are not trying to drive a good outcome, check your motivations.

    Good criticism is difficult, and a lot more could be written here, but I hope these warnings will help you learn from some of my own experience giving it.

    ∞

    🎶 Tracking Artists by 5-Star Tracks

    I usually use last.fm to look at my top artists by number of plays. Today, I decided to look at who have the most ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ tracks in my library. It came out like this:

    1. Circle of Dust
    2. Between the Buried and Me
    3. August Burns Red
    4. Black Sun Empire
    5. Clubroot
    6. Underoath
    7. Living Sacrifice
    8. Kardashev
    9. Opeth
    10. Brainchild (tie)
    11. Front Line Assembly (tie)

    A couple of these are in my all-time top-listened artists (August Burns Red, Front Line Assembly) but many of them aren’t. Some of that is because my top-listened artists have great albums that get a lot of plays. Others (like BtBaM and Opeth) might not be at the top because their songs are so long and account for fewer plays per time listened. Others (Kardashev) are newer to me.

    Also, as usual, Rhys Fulber and Klayton would rocket off the top of charts if each stuck to one project name. Klayton (already at #1, #10, and remixer of some of #7) would be even higher if I threw in Argyle Park, AP2, Celldweller, and early work with Klank. Rhys Fulber (#11) would be in second place if we included self-titled work, Fear Factory mixes & remixes, and Noise Unit.

    I think I’ll revisit this view again after I get more tracks in my library rated.

    Who hold the most 5-star tracks in your library?

    ∞

    Three Directions of Org Design

    This is a post is in the Useful Ideas series.

    This is a framework to guide organizational design decisions, based on three directions: inside-out, outside-in, and upwards. Most of us tend to primarily consider one of these directions, so this framework helps us to evaluate the other directions, as well.

    As you evaluate these factors, there will be tradeoffs to make, but considering each of these directions helps you to make informed tradeoffs and to mitigate the downsides of your approach.

    For each direction, I’ll give a brief glimpse of an org design that highly prioritizes that perspective often at the expense of the other perspectives.

    Note: I believe these principles are relevant to many types of organizations. However, I chose to use consistent and simplified language where possible. So, when you see “customers”, for example, you may need to mentally substitute this with “stakeholders”, “boundary partners”, “constituents”, “members”, “clients” or whatever is the appropriate term for the type of organization you are designing. Do this for other terms, as well.

    Inside-Out: Delivery

    The inside-out direction focuses on how a team is aligned for delivery. It considers questions such as:

    • Is it easy to get quality output & results through the system?
    • Have we limited dependencies so that there are reduced handoffs and waiting?
    • Do we have all the needed skills and competencies within the team?
    • Are roles and responsibilities clear?

    Extreme example: the team is fully self-contained and has a highly-structured production line.

    The inside-out direction is about creating a structure that supports the execution of the strategy and the delivery of value to the customers.

    Outside-In: Customers

    The outside-in direction focuses on how customers engage with the organization. It considers questions such as:

    • Is it easy for customers to get support?
    • Do customers know where to go for support, and are there limited places to go?
    • Are we building rapport and trust with customers?
    • Are we aligned to anticipate and respond to customer needs and expectations?

    Extreme example: each customer has a personal ambassador to the organization who is fully equipped and empowered to address the customer’s needs.

    The outside-in direction is about creating a customer-centric culture and a customer-oriented structure.

    Upwards: Expertise

    The upwards direction focuses on how team members gain domain knowledge, skill, and ability to troubleshoot. It considers questions such as:

    • Do people responsible for delivery get significant exposure to problems?
    • …and are they incentivized to understand and solve them?
    • Do team members get practice & timely feedback that hones their skill & knowledge?
    • Are we helping people become adept at their craft and greater in wisdom?

    Extreme example: for every offering, team member(s) are responsible for the complete lifecycle from initial design to ongoing support.

    The upwards direction is about creating a growth-oriented culture and a people-oriented structure.

    Summary

    Each direction represents a different perspective on how to align the structure, roles, and competencies of the organization with its strategy, culture, environment, customers, and people. The framework helps to evaluate the tradeoffs and benefits of each direction, and to create a balanced and effective organization.

    ∞

    "Me" and "We" Contributions

    This is a post is in the Useful Ideas series.

    When discussing contributions, it’s often important to address both the me and the we.

    This can apply in many situations:

    • both accomplishments & problems
    • both personal & professional

    Addressing both the “me” and the “we” is important not just because the personal and the collective are both important, but also because of the systems and relationships between them are important.

    Example:

    • When I interview someone and they focus on what their group accomplished, I don’t get a useful understanding of their capabilities & skills. When I interview someone and they focus on what they personally accomplished, I wonder if they work well with others. When I interview someone who addresses both, I can better understand the whole picture of the environment they were working in and how they made an impact in that environment.
    ∞

    🎶 How I'm listening lately

    I’m in the process of re-building my Plex ecosystem. In the interim, I’ve either been listening to straight albums or playing from my iTunes library using this structure:

    representation of folder structure described in this post

    What this means…

    “Un” is a folder of four auto-updating smart playlists. I shuffle the whole thing to listen (and of course, scrobble to last.fm).

    • “Un 2023” contains all tracks released this year that have neither been listened to nor skipped
    • “Unloved” contains all non-holiday 5-star/loved/favorited songs that haven’t been played in the last year
    • “Unskipped” is a little more inclusive version of unloved, but limited to 1 GB of music (chosen by recently added): all non-holiday unskipped, undisliked songs not played in the last year
    • “Untouched” is a little more inclusive version of un 2023, but limited to 1 GB of music (chosen by recently added): all non-holiday songs that haven’t been listened to, skipped, or rated

    What it creates…

    Overall, this is a mixture weighted toward top songs along with some “discovery” of recent music and recent adds to my library. It works very well with limited “management” of the music.

    ∞

    if you answer it again, write it down

    Note: This is an operating principle. I have others, like “when one is remote, all are remote”.

    If you find yourself answering a question multiples times or sharing a reference multiple times, then go ahead and document it and make it link-able.

    • Personally, this might go on your domain or blog
    • Organizationally, it might go on a wiki, intranet site, shared notebook, or project documentation

    Aim to make the above location as consistent as is useful.

    But why?

    • helps with alignment and consistency in answer
    • fosters intentionality when the answer should change
    • (if useful) can show the history of those changes/decisions
    • serves people not in the room
    • saves you and others time
    ∞

    🎶 Roon Trial: Day 1 (vs. Plex/PlexAmp)

    Doing a Roon trial after @rcrackley brought it to my attention, again.

    Quick Day 1 notes:

    • I like that it shows listening charts based on time not tracks
    • Some parts of the system seem to favor albums, and others tracks, and I can’t figure out the design principle yet
    • Scrobbling seems to work ok, though there are some mismatches due to the “enhancement” they do to artist/title
    • Arc is supposed to work off-network, but looks like it doesn’t without some extra networking work (similar to Plex)
    • However, Roon may handle scrobbling better on Arc downloads than PlexAmp downloads (i.e. counting them when it reconnects). I haven’t 100% verified this, yet (For PlexAmp, you have to trick it by playing from a playlist that you happen to have downloaded, instead of playing the download, and then it will sync on reconnect)
    • Genre choices are little interesting at times, but it seems things may at least get multiple genres? Not sure on that, either.
    • It’s not clear how tagging works or what it adds aside from the other options
    • A little lack of clarity around how library is managed when you have some local files and some streaming tracks (e.g. Tidal) that are related, or when you have incomplete albums

    So far, not at all worth the 3x (monthly) to 7x (lifetime) cost increase over Plex/PlexAmp (especially considering you get many other functions with Plex unrelated to music, as well as a discount on your Tidal monthly subscription).

    ∞

    Fun Fridays

    I’m crawling around on the floor, as if I’m evading lazers so I can get to the bank vault.

    This was one of the situations this morning at the gym. I also went through a set of tennis ball exercises (juggling, footwork, etc.), and performed a variety of hanging exercises from the bars and rings.

    I don’t normally work with my trainer on Fridays, but I have occasionally. Other times, we were balancing staffs, swinging clubs, lifting logs and large rocks.

    My trainer said “oh yeah, it’s Fun Fridays”.

    I like that. Maybe we should all build a little Fun Fridays into our routines.

    ∞

    Operation #PeoplePoweredProvisions 🥾🚲📦

    This October, we are trying an experiment.

    The only packages, purchases, and provisions that will come into our home will be those delivered by our own people-power (i.e. walking, biking, or the like).

    That means:

    • No online retailers
    • No meal delivery or meal kits
    • No carloads of groceries or other items

    We will only make an exception (this time) for any individual item that we need but is too big to transport on it’s own (e.g. an appliance, large outdoor item, or something like that).

    But Why?

    Many people have to live like this already, and many more of us will as the financial and ecological cost of delivery rises. We want to see how prepared we are. We also expect we will learn more about our habits. We might find we can forego some things that we currently believe are necessities.

    ∞

    Response to @odd on anarchism

    re: this conversation

    Sources

    Though it may sound hokey, my biggest inspiration is the teachings of Jesus in the synoptic gospels and the response of the church in Acts. The anabaptist tradition (my particular tradition) has a strain of anarchist-related thinking, and many works from the Anabaptist traditions will indirectly or directly reference anarchist ways of being.

    Thus, I have explored many Christian Anarchist (or at least adjacent) books. This is a (partial) selection from our home library:

    Admittedly some of the directly-anarchist works are worse at making the case than non-explicitly anarchist ones. (note: a warning/disclaimer about John Howard Yoder).

    I also have a lifetime membership at PM Press, which publishes many anarchist works. Similar publishers include Verso Books and AK Press. In addition, the Center for a Stateless Society traditionally published many thoughtful essays and books (like Markets Not Capitalism), though I have not read much there in recent years.

    I highly recommend reading Ursula K. LeGuin and David Graeber.

    My Perspective

    The “🏴” section of this “about me” post is a very short summary of how I think about anarchism.

    To me, it’s less something to be immediately (or ever?) achieved, and more of a direction or vision. Like the Kingdom of God, it’s both already among us and not yet complete. When you help your neighbor instead of reporting them to the HOA or city government, anarchy is among you. When you work through conflict without resorting to coercion or violence, anarchy is among you. When you practice mutual support, anarchy is among you.

    ∞

    White Male Fear: The Insecurity Behind Hunting Culture

    We saw some 🦌 this morning and my friend reflected that “white tail deer” sounds like “white male fear”, so here’s an essay courtesy of GPT.

    Hunting has long been a popular pastime in many parts of the world, and in the United States, hunting culture is often associated with a specific demographic: white men. While some may view hunting as a harmless activity, it is important to acknowledge the underlying psychological and cultural factors that drive this activity. Specifically, hunting culture is often driven by a sense of insecurity and fear, particularly among white males.

    At its core, hunting is about exerting control over the natural world. Hunters seek to demonstrate their dominance over animals, proving their strength and skill in the process. For many white men, this desire for control reflects a deeper fear of losing power and status in society. In a world where white male privilege is being challenged, hunting becomes a way to reassert dominance over nature, and by extension, over other people.

    Furthermore, hunting is often marketed as a way to reconnect with nature and escape the stresses of modern life. However, this idealized version of hunting is often at odds with the reality of the activity. In many cases, hunting involves the use of high-powered weapons and technology that provide hunters with a significant advantage over their prey. This emphasis on technology and efficiency further underscores the need to prove one’s dominance and control.

    The culture surrounding hunting also reinforces this sense of insecurity and fear. Hunting is often depicted as a rite of passage for young men, a way to prove their worth and masculinity. The emphasis on strength and skill reinforces traditional gender roles, and the culture of competition that surrounds hunting encourages men to measure their worth against others.

    In conclusion, hunting culture is driven by a sense of insecurity and fear, particularly among white males. While the activity may be marketed as a way to reconnect with nature or assert dominance over animals, the underlying psychological and cultural factors are rooted in a desire for control and a fear of losing power and status. By acknowledging these underlying factors, we can begin to have more honest and nuanced conversations about the role of hunting in our society, and work towards a more equitable and sustainable relationship with the natural world.

    ∞

    🎲 Alternatives to Dungeons & Dragons

    Perhaps you’ve heard some recent controversy around Wizards of the Coast and Dungeons & Dragons. Perhaps you haven’t. Either way, it’s a great time to look at some alternatives to Dungeons & Dragons.

    Note: I’m going to limit the list to games that are fantasy, adventuring, and flexible-setting, otherwise this list would be much longer. If you want recommendations that ignore one of those factors, I’m happy to share some other options.

    I’m going to use tags because those are a fun RPG thing.

    • compatible: it shares enough in common with D&D-like games that it should be easier to use published adversaries or adventures
    • credited: you’ll find my name in the credits
    • light: it’s a rules-light system
    • played: I’ve tried it

    Here are the games, in alphabetical order:

    • Beyond the Wall: compatible, has some extra focus on group-building, and a bit more setting & vibe built-in
    • Cornerstone Fantasy: light, the first of three Sigil Stone games on the list, but one that appears will not be getting ongoing support and development
    • Dichotomy (backup link): a super-indie game with an interesting angle akin to Lasers & Feelings or Arcanum
    • Dominion Rules: played, a highly-underrated game with several great ideas and tons of potential
    • Dungeon Crawl Classics: compatible, recommended if you want big time “old-school” vibes
    • Five Torches Deep: compatible, light, essentially a pared-down 5th edition
    • Forbidden Lands: strong on open-world play, also with some built-in vibes
    • Into the Odd: compatible, light, arguably not strictly-fantasy enough, but usable for lots of play with some table-tweaking
    • Knave: compatible, light, played, top recommendation if you just want to get going with quick play
    • Maze Rats: light, played, top recommendation for a pickup game with no compatibility needed
    • Mythic D6: descendant of the West End Games D6 system (like classic Star Wars)
    • Pathfinder: compatible, played, recommended if you liked 3rd edition
    • Torchbearer: credited, played, descendant of Burning Wheel, recommended for those emphasizing the hard life of adventurers
    • Vagabonds of Dyfed: light, played, an interesting mashup of D&D and PbtA roots, which shouldn’t really work but kinda does
    • Warrior Rogue Mage: light, answers “what if the core archetypes were the stats?”
    • Whitehack: compatible, played, top recommendation if you want to run a compatible-but-flexible game that lasts many sessions (e.g. campaign-mode)
    • Worlds Without Number: compatible, recommended for the worldbuilding and adventure-creation tools

    Anything I should add to the list? Anything you’d particularly recommend? Leave a reply.

    Disclaimer: I’ve used DriveThruRPG affiliate links, where relevant. I could get a small credit if you make a purchase there.

    ∞

    📚 2022 Book Review

    Welcome to my yearly summary of books!

    Table of contents:

    • Intro - my process and tools
    • The Books - which books I recommend
    • Analysis - some introspection and goalsetting
    • Previously - links to prior years

    Note: I will use Bookshop affiliate links when available, throughout this post. You don’t have to buy from my bookshop, but if you do, I put that money back into more books.

    Intro

    I use and recommend Libby for getting ebooks and audiobooks from the library. Most books I borrow digitally, but there are exceptions:

    • Books I plan to re-read
    • Deluxe or art-filled editions
    • Books I will use as a referenrce
    • Books I enjoyed and want to keep around

    For those cases, I get physical editions via Bookshop. And lest you think I don’t really do physical books: my household has 15 brimming bookshelves.

    I take copious highlights and notes, and save them to Readwise. Here’s how. Highlights and notes are especially important for me with digital books, where spacial-temporal recollection is not as easy, but spaced-repitition and note-linking can make up for it (and then some).

    I track my reading in The StoryGraph. I prefer it because not Amazon and because it incorporates some data elements other than ratings which are useful for describing and finding books. I’m hoping micro.blog’s bookshelves feature continues to improve, so that I could rely on book tracking directly in my blog, as well. (Today, it doesn’t handle book search well nor let us use our own Bookshop links, but we’ll see what the future holds.)

    I keep my to-read/wishlist as a Bookshop list, for ease of sharing and gift-giving.

    The Books

    Let’s start with the recommended ones, collected in this Bookshop collection or visually:

    20222books

    And here are all the books I read, individually, and in reading order (within rating):

    ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ :

    • The Six Deaths of the Saint (Into Shadow #3) - Alix E. Harrow (see also)

    👍:

    🤷‍♂️:

    👎 (authors and links removed because I feel bad about even putting these in, but wanted to show the broader view):

    • Keeper of the Lost Cities (Keeper of the Lost Cities #1)
    • Tell the Machine Goodnight
    • The Prophet
    • A Calling for Charlie Barnes
    • The School for Good Mothers
    • The Garden (Into Shadow #1)

    Did you read anything I did? What’d you think?

    Based on looking at my list, is there anything you’d recommend?

    Analysis

    This was an mixed year for reading goals. I exceeded by book goal (55 out of 53) but missed by pages goal (15,868 out of 17,500). I’ll go for 60 books next year, but keep the 17,500 page goal.

    Similar to my normal ratio, I read 63% fiction this year:

    fiction v nonfiction

    I continue to add to my intentionality in reading, seeking a variety of voices, formats, styles, etc. With such a long list of things I’d like to read, I’m also trying to be wiser about what I should read sooner than later such as things related to health or permaculture.

    Here’s to a good year of reading!

    Previously 📚:

    ∞

    🔒 A Mental Model for Cybersecurity Operating Modes

    A person in risk & security can generally be thought of as acting like one of the following:

    • Engineer
    • Analyst
    • Influencer

    Interestingly (and helpfully), this is independent of official title. You’ve probably met engineers whose main operating mode is as the advocate, or leaders who act more like high-level analysts, or ops or risk analysts who focus on building capabilities.

    Like all models, this has limitations, but it is useful. It can help you think about what’s missing, where strengths are, what structure should look like, etc.

    H/T to David Ames who introduced me to this concept, though with a different name for the third role.

    ∞

    No, the GOP is not the party of law enforcement

    …and neither is the Democratic party.

    In the news this morning, there were reactions of surprise that there would be calls coming from rightwing reactionaries to “defund the FBI”.

    Why surprise? Well, because the commentators see the GOP on the side of law enforcement generally, and more specifically due to their reaction to calls from activists to defund the police.

    But most people, including people that make up the Republican and Democratic parties, are people of some law enforcement. Which laws we want to see created and enforced tend to vary by political leanings.

    Between the FBI & the police, the FBI is more likely to restrain the powerful, and the police are more likely to restrain the less-powerful. This aligns with the trends of the right and left wings in USAmerican politics. We should not see “surprise” with this alignment.

    Obviously there are many exceptions, and I am no proponent of either party (nor in favor of “punching” in general), but it is directionally true that he rightwing has been more likely to “punch down” towards those in weaker positions (e.g. immigration, poverty, sexuality, etc.) and the leftwing has been more likely to “punch up” towards those with power (e.g. monopoly, environment). (All this despite the fact that people in powerful positions often feel like they are the embattled ones.)

    In summary: don’t be surprised that there are factions of the right wing calling to defund law enforcement that restrains the powerful. That is the MO of much of their recent work.

    ∞

    Becoming a 1st level ranger 🎲 and sleuthing around 🔎

    Two little audio stories from today’s adventures.

    ∞

    🎲 Let's Make a Hexmap!

    I need a hazardous hexmap for a post-apocalyptic science-fantasy-meets-dark-fantasy game I’m developing to play with some friends. I think things like this always end up more interesting when the input of multiple people creates emergent complexity. That’s where you come in!

    map v5

    (I’ll make a cleaner version with canonical symbols, once we complete the exercise.)

    Rules/Steps

    1. Reply: you can send a webmention as a reply to this post, reply on micro.blog (see link below), or reply by email (see link below).
    2. Place an element: pick from the menu below (a terrain selection or a point of interest), and give me coordinates for it. I’ll place it if it doesn’t invalidate one I already placed, and then update the map.
    3. Two then you: you only get to take another turn if two other changes have happened since the one you requested.

    Menu

    1. Terrain (color): Choose 3 hexes of one terrain type and 1 hex of another terrain type. They must be contiguous (connected) with one another. Assume hexes are 25 miles-ish. I’ll need coordinates for all 4. Note: All hexes will eventually get a terrain.
      1. Swamp (green): soggy areas filled with things that lurk, where people scrap together whatever safety they can, often on stilts or in the trees
      2. Wasteland (purple): radiation, toxic spills, infestation, or other terrible things make this land inhospitable to all but the most resilient of beings
      3. Desert (orange): whether sand, rock, glass, or worse, people here are often nomadic, seeking out scarce resources wherever they can find them
      4. Mountain (black): steep, formidable, and buffeted by strong winds, people usually live and move inside, rather than trying to cross them
      5. Archipelago (teal): the waters are filled with small islands, harsh storms, and predators, and people make their way around in small craft and flotillas
    2. Point of interest (letter). Only one of these may exist on a hex. You can place them regardless of if the terrain is chosen already, or not.
      1. Skyship (S): It looms overhead, slowly making its way across the landscape. Restriction: only one on the map. If it is already placed, you may choose this again to move it one hex in any direction.
      2. Metropolis (M): What could even sustain a population in these horrid lands? Something has, because many are here. Restriction: only one per terrain type.
      3. Gathering (G): There are people here, though in smaller quantity. Maybe permanently as a settlement, maybe temporarily or nomadically.
      4. Conflict (C): Nobody wants to be here, not even those involved.
      5. Ruin (R): Wonders from a previous era, for those brave or foolish enough to investigate.
      6. Phenomenon (P): This strange thing shouldn’t exist, and yet reports say it does.
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