How projects, files, and knowledge connect
Start work in a project. Keep the files and working notes together while the work is active. At closeout, copy what is reusable into lasting systems, then preserve the whole project as a historical record.
The whole idea in three lines
- 1Do the work inside a project.
- 2At the end, copy what is reusable to its lasting home.
- 3Archive the whole project, untouched.
The system map
The project record is the main connector. It points to the work, its files, the people or entities involved, and the knowledge and outputs it creates.
Select a card to read more below.
One clear location for each job: projects organize work; files preserve artifacts; knowledge preserves understanding. Link them instead of forcing them into one hierarchy. Direct links between knowledge, files, and products are useful when they add context.
The work lifecycle
Choose a view: one project’s path from start to finish, or the continuing cycle that makes the next project easier.
One project: cradle to closeout
The project has a beginning and an end. The original stays intact; valuable pieces are copied into their lasting homes.
Select a step to see what to do in it.
At closeout, copy the valuable outputs to their lasting homes
Library
Templates, media, components, brand assets, and tools.
Knowledge
Distilled lessons, principles, methods, and repeatable procedures.
Showcase
Selected examples, case studies, and proof of work.
Project archive
The whole project, including originals, stays together as history.
Across projects: a compounding cycle
Projects end, but useful knowledge and reusable assets keep evolving. Each completed project can improve the next one.
Use what already exists
Start a new project from relevant knowledge, methods, templates, and assets.
Do the work
Keep active files and project knowledge with the work; record decisions and discoveries.
Distill and promote
Copy reusable assets to the library and turn useful findings into lasting knowledge or methods.
Improve the shared systems
Make the library and knowledge base more useful, so the next project begins ahead.
They give work a clear beginning, status, and end.
Working and final artifacts stay with the project; reusable copies may live in a library.
Distilled understanding can be revised and reused long after its source project closes.