Vladimir Oane

Doing the work is about producing something of value, especially to others (ex: designing something, interviewing stakeholders, capturing insights in a Google Doc, drawing a conceptual model, etc). Work produces artifacts that create value for the organization.

Meta-work is everything else you must do to make that work possible. (this can include thinking about what must be done next, in what sequence, what materials or resources you’ll need, who you need to talk with, figuring out when they’re available, scheduling calls, etc). It is part time management, part systems, part habits etc.

Agile methodologies revolutionized how products are being built. But building is just half of the problem. Deciding what to build is just as (if not more) important. 

Deciding what to build is discovery. Shipping is delivery. 

Discovery needs to be treated as an activity on its own. With clear activities, tracking and deliverables, just as we do with delivering working products.

An acronym popularized by Tiago Forte on taking notes the smart way:

C - capture - collect ideas

O - organize - put things into order

D - distill - find the essence & throw away the rest

E - express - share with others

Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991) is a continuation of Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974). Phaedrus, the author's alter ego, spends his days on a boat working on philosophy. He meets Lila in a bar, has a one-night stand with her. A common friend challenges Phaedrus to explain why a woman like Lila has value.

This question and the events that follow serve as the background for Pirsing to describe The Metaphysics of Quality as a theory of reality: incorporating Sophism, East Asian & indigenous American philosophy.

Is the mixed desires & fears of being watched by unknown others defines virtual society, gives rise to anxieties such as the sense of exposed insignificance & the fear of missing out:

• You despise yourself for your public failures: Oh, why did I post such an embarrassing, personal status?
• You despise your lack of compensating public success: Oh, why did no one like that embarrassing post?

You wish to erase your tracks, but feel strangely nonexistent when undocumented; your mistakes remain glaringly public, but your good qualities refuse to go viral.