Actual Zettelkasten · Principles

1. Principles

Automate the Constraint

ID: principles-automate-the-constraint
Family: Principles
Tagline: Put automation where the whole job depends on it.
Quote: “Fix the choke point first.”

Why This Matters

If you automate the easy parts and ignore the bottleneck, nothing really improves. Time and presence are the real constraint for truth.

How It Works

  • Find the actual bottleneck in the work, not the convenient one.
  • Aim automation at time and presence where they are weakest.
  • Keep judgment and exceptions in the hands of people.

Reflection

When you strengthen the weakest point, everything downstream gets easier.

  • Keep the Work Moving
  • Flow Starts at the Edge
  • Truth You Can Stand On
  • Edge Autonomy

Audiences

Field, Leadership, Engineering

Convivial Tools

ID: principles-convivial-tools
Family: Principles
Tagline: Support the worker’s judgment, don’t replace it.
Quote: “The tool should help, then get out of the way.”

Why This Matters

Systems that try to think for people end up ignored. Systems that quietly support good judgment get used every day.

How It Works

  • Automate recording, not decision-making.
  • Keep people in charge of exceptions and changes.
  • Show clear information instead of rigid rules.

Reflection

Tools earn trust when they extend people instead of overruling them.

  • Tools for Humans
  • Keep the Work Moving
  • Flow Starts at the Edge

Audiences

Field, Leadership

Flow Starts at the Edge

ID: principles-flow-starts-at-the-edge
Family: Principles
Tagline: Design from the field inward.
Quote: “If it doesn’t work in the dirt, it doesn’t work.”

Why This Matters

Most systems are built from the office down. Real flow happens when you start where the work happens and let the rest follow.

How It Works

  • Observe real jobs in real conditions before designing.
  • Capture events at the edge, not in the back office.
  • Adjust office processes to match field reality, not the reverse.

Reflection

When the edge runs smoothly, the whole company feels it.

  • Keep the Work Moving
  • Automate the Constraint
  • Convivial Tools
  • Edge Autonomy

Audiences

Field, Leadership, Engineering

Keep the Work Moving

ID: principles-keep-the-work-moving
Family: Principles
Tagline: Record the job without stopping the job.
Quote: “Flow beats friction every time.”

Why This Matters

Every time crews stop to tap or type, momentum drops. The more the system runs in the background, the more work is actually finished.

How It Works

  • Capture time and location automatically as people move.
  • Avoid asking for data during tight or risky tasks.
  • Only interrupt crews when something truly needs attention.

Reflection

The best sign of good tooling is that people barely notice it while they work.

  • Automate the Constraint
  • Flow Starts at the Edge
  • Tools for Humans

Audiences

Field, Leadership

Necessary but Not Sufficient

ID: principles-necessary-but-not-sufficient
Family: Principles
Tagline: Automation only matters if it serves the real goal.
Quote: “Tech is the tool, not the change.”

Why This Matters

New systems often get installed without fixing the real problem. Technology must support constraint, flow, and truth — not replace thinking.

How It Works

  • Start with the business problem, not the feature list.
  • Check if automation actually improves the constraint.
  • Measure system-wide flow, not just local speed gains.

Reflection

A system is better when people feel more in control, not less.

  • Automate the Constraint
  • Flow Before Forecast
  • Truth as Infrastructure

Audiences

Leadership, Engineering

Tools for Humans

ID: principles-tools-for-humans
Family: Principles
Tagline: Fit tech to the job, not the other way around.
Quote: “The tool should bend to the worker.”

Why This Matters

If tools fight the conditions in the field, crews either ignore them or slow down. A tool that respects real work ends up actually used.

How It Works

  • Design for gloves, dust, noise, and bad weather.
  • Remove screens and fiddly steps wherever possible.
  • Keep every interaction simple enough to do under pressure.

Reflection

If a tool feels like a good hammer, people reach for it without thinking.

  • Convivial Tools
  • Keep the Work Moving
  • One Badge, Whole Day

Audiences

Field, Leadership

395… Exactly

ID: principles-395-exactly
Family: Principles
Tagline: Exact time and place build confidence.
Quote: “Count, don’t guess.”

Why This Matters

Estimates lead to pay disputes and billing questions. Exact counts align crews, managers, and customers around what really happened.

How It Works

  • Use the badge to measure presence, not memory.
  • Record events as they happen instead of at day’s end.
  • Let exact counts flow straight into payroll and costing.

Reflection

When everyone trusts the count, they can focus on the work instead of defending the numbers.

  • Truth You Can Stand On
  • Presence Becomes Proof
  • Precision Finance

Audiences

Field, Finance, Leadership

Truth You Can Stand On

ID: principles-truth-you-can-stand-on
Family: Principles
Tagline: Make every record able to defend itself.
Quote: “Truth is only truth if you can show it.”

Why This Matters

If nobody can see where a number came from, trust disappears. Crews, finance, and customers all need proof, not just totals.

How It Works

  • Tie each record to who was there, where, and when.
  • Capture data while work happens, not hours later.
  • Make it easy to drill from a total back to the events.

Reflection

When people can follow the trail, they stop fighting the numbers.

  • 395… Exactly
  • Provenance of Truth
  • Lineage Is the Ledger

Audiences

Field, Finance, Leadership