Edition no.21. 14th September 2023

It was March 1st, 2022 and I was about to meet Tiago Forte for the first time.

He came to visit his family in Brazil and decided to host a Building a Second Brain (BASB) Meetup in São Paulo.

I couldn't miss this opportunity, so I not only booked a ±16h round trip by bus from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo to meet Tiago, but I also pushed for a 1:1 breakfast with him.

And it happened!

Both the BASB Meetup, with a total of 5 people (picture above), and also breakfast with him. I was able to meet and pick the brain of the person I most admired and looked up to.

It was a powerful trip, and I came back with a powerful Vision:

🔭 “I will work with this man someday."

He might not have known it back then, but I already did.

And you guessed it… I did work with Tiago! First as a Facilitator for BASB Cohort 17, and then helping him launch his book ‘Criando um Segundo Cérebro' and his self-paced course in Brazil.

What I didn't know was I would learn so many powerful lessons from Tiago.

This is the perfect transition to start talking about this edition of The Fis Letter because the most important lesson I learned from Tiago is this:

The focus of Knowledge Management is on Action

It took me over a year to finally understand and implement this, but I have finally come to understand that Action is at the forefront of Knowledge Management.

Tiago Forte's most popular framework is the PARA Method, and the 3-word description chosen to summarize it is "Organize for Actionability."

Once you see it, you can't unsee it.

This principle makes knowledge management much, much easier. Everything depends on your actions. And by designing a productivity system that prompts you to take action, you have a tremendous headstart.

For a long time, I tried to create a Knowledge Management system that revolved around… knowledge, but that didn't work out.

Here's why ↓

💬 4 Quotes

Quote 1

This quote represents the major challenge of Knowledge Management:

• The fallacy of false doing.

Knowing is doing, right? So… just by knowing you take some form of action.

Which makes things very tricky.

You may feel the sensation of being productive and having taken action because you had amazing ideas and know in which notes they are or because you've planned an entire project.

You now know new ideas and new plans.

And it's undeniable these are actions.

But the question you want to ask yourself is "Have you really made progress?"

And sometimes the answer will be "yes!”

But sometimes the answer is “no,” and this is when you're caught in the fallacy of false doing. I have been there multiple times, I can't even keep count.

You think you are making progress, but you're not.

Quote 2

Ideas are easy. At least for me…

I'm an idea machine, and I could easily come up with a dozen ideas that would transform the world. On the other hand, I could never execute all of these ideas. And that's where the true value lies: Execution.

Executing your ideas is crucial to achieving progress.

Luckily, there's a perfect place to bridge the gap between ideas and execution.

Projects. That's where ideas meet execution, and you can see your ideas (notes) and actions (tasks) all in the same place.

The Art of Project Management comes from knowing the balance between these components.

Quote 3

And speaking of the balance between actions and ideas…

The best ideas come FROM action.

When you take a step forward, you will receive new information. And the information you receive after taking action is much more valuable than anything you can learn online or read in books.

Experience brings a qualitatively different kind of information.

You can't predict the entire path toward your objectives before you start moving. You NEED action and forward momentum before you can identify the complete path to get there.

Taking action will show you the path. Having ideas won't.

This is why it's crucially important to plan the next project. This is because when you finish the next project, you will have acquired information that is more valuable than anything you had access before.

You are now MUCH more prepared to plan the next steps in your path.

Don't try and plan everything. Plan the next project, finish it, and move on to the next.

Quote 4

This quote is a perfect illustration of the previous argument.

Great things are achieved by completing small projects, one after the other. When you piece these projects together, you will be able to paint a great masterpiece and achieve extraordinary results.

But only because you've 'finished the next project' several times.

This is the Art of Project Management.

Finding the perfect balance of visualizing the big picture while you focus on executing that next project which will provide you with the next piece of information that will, in turn, better guide your pursuit of that big picture.

Like everything in life, this works in a cycle.

But for the cycle to work, you must finish projects and recalibrate. And this is much easier when you create smaller next projects that represent just the next step for you to keep pushing towards your big picture.

📄 3 Notes

1. Action-oriented mindsets for Knowledge Management

The essence of an Action-oriented system for Knowledge Management lies in using Projects.

Now, I want to dive further into what mindsets we can apply when handling notes, projects, and tasks to ensure we are focusing on action.

Mindset 1: Focus on the Next Project

For every important "Super Project" you have going on, make a commitment to focus just on the Next Project.

You can't do everything at once.

When you focus single-handedly on the Next Project, you can concentrate all your efforts on action instead of planning. You also leverage the fact that the most valuable piece of information comes after taking action.

You will move faster if you focus on what comes next.

This mindset removes you from planning mode and helps you complete projects, gather feedback, and then plan your next step. With BETTER information than you had before. Notice it's not MORE information that matters. It's BETTER information.

Mindset 2: Use Projects as Hubs

By definition, a Hub is the central part of something or the center of an activity.

This is what a Project means to me.

It is one central place that holds all the important information about what you are working on and want to finish as fast and with the highest quality as possible. Everything is connected to the Hub.

A Project holds all the context of your efforts.

By context, I mean everything you may need to work on the Project, and that includes Notes, Tasks, Deliverables, Deadlines, People Involved, Decisions, Links, Ideas, Meetings, etc.

"Always be in the middle (of the action)" as my friend RJ Nestor would say.

The middle is like the trenches, where action happens. By being in the middle, you are prepared with all the context you need to work. You know that all the relevant information is there. You are instantly ready for action.

When Project pages act as Hubs, you are always ready for action.

Mindset 3: Retrieve Knowledge to Apply it

Knowledge Management has four main processes:

• Creation

• Storage and Retrieval

• Transfer

• Application

Action-oriented Knowledge Management gives very high priority to Retrieval and Application of knowledge.

Why?

If you can't find (retrieve) knowledge, you literally can't do anything with it. And if you don't use (apply) your knowledge, you aren't executing, and your ideas are not bringing you tangible value.

Build a system that prioritizes retrieval and application.

Mindset 4: More Deep Work (Flow), less Shallow Work

The state of Flow is a state of heightened awareness where humans effortlessly perform at their best level.

If you’re not getting into Flow, you're underusing your brain.

This doesn't mean you won't achieve good results, but you will most certainly not reach the best of your potential.

And how does this relate to Knowledge Management?

When you have a clear goal (Mindset 1) and all the relevant information you need close by (Mindset 2), getting into Flow becomes much easier. From there, I can basically guarantee that you'll get into Flow if you work for 2 hours with no distractions.

In summary, eliminate distractions and context switching. Focus on one project for an extended period of time, and you will work much better.

2. Project Complexity Pyramid

Not every project is created equal.

Some Projects demand very little knowledge, while other more complex projects will demand much more complexity.

It's important to understand that each project has different needs.

For some projects, all you need is a clear vision of what you want to achieve and a couple of notes. You can simply access the notes anytime you want to work on the project, and boom!

More complex projects, though, need more structure. Such as what decisions were made, what stakeholders need to be communicated about them, and what are the key dates or milestones.

The Project Complexity Pyramid will help you visualize this:

For more complex projects, take the entire stack of components up until that level of complexity and NOTHING MORE.

Take for example an arbitrary Project Complexity of 7 out of 10. According to the scale, you would need to manage everything from "Project Timeline" down to "Project Vision" and "Project End Date."

There is a catch, though:

You want the Project to be as simple as possible.

In other words, DON'T MANAGE ANYTHING ABOVE THE LINE.

When you try to manage MORE than what the project asks for, you are wasting time and money. Creating a stakeholder management dashboard for a Project that doesn't require stakeholder management is a waste of your efforts.

Avoid all unnecessary complexity.

Tiago Forte has a heuristic that you usually need less notes than you imagine to finish a project.

And the parallel here is that you usually need less complexity than you imagine to finish a project.

Resist adding more complexity. If you really need to manage more knowledge components, the structure will be ready, so it's easy to add it later.

P.S. The order of YOUR pyramid may be different from mine, and of course, exceptions exist. This is just a rule of thumb.

P.S.S. If you want to manage these different components in Tana ↓, stay tuned for the Links section 👀

3. Different Styles of Planning for Action

Not only are projects different from one another…

But People are also different and have different planning needs.

Some people work best with a very structured week plan, with the tasks for each day clearly outlined and no margin for error.

Other, more rebellious people work best with freedom and flexibility to work on something that suddenly caught their interest, or that wasn't planned but somehow seems much more useful than the initial plan. Sometimes also called hyperfocus.

And there is no right or wrong method. People are different, so a productivity system that works for someone won't necessarily work for others.

Enters Styles of Planning.

Styles of Planning are just that, different ways to plan your actions. And with Project Management in mind, there are 3 main Styles of Planning:

Style 1: Weeks and Days Planner

People who invest most energy into planning weeks and days.

It's very important to know what to do and when to do it. You’ll probably mix tasks from different projects in the same days and have a very high focus on an Agenda where everything comes together.

You are more rigid and like to have control over your calendar.

You don't necessarily need to plan your projects from the inside. Whenever the time comes, you will create the tasks during your weekly planning session and assign them to projects.

Style 2: Projects Planner

People who invest most energy into planning projects.

It's very important to have your projects very well outlined, with the next tasks for each project clearly defined, so that you can simply open a project and immediately know what to do next. You will sometimes work on the same project for the entire day and will change when you're tired of it.

You are more flexible and volatile and want to have an option of next tasks to choose from.

You don't necessarily plan your weeks ahead of time but rather trust your feelings in that moment. Maybe you'll open up the project you most want to work on and just start working from there, on the fly.

Style 3: Hybrid Planner - Work Menu

People who balance the energy investment into planning weeks and projects.

This style will obviously manifest in several different ways. It's impossible to define one single way in which a person would behave while balancing the two previous styles.

It's basically a mix of planning your weeks with some structure and having your next projects updated with the next actions that can be done.

An interesting way to implement this is using a Work Menu. (I've learned this concept from Kahlil Corazo.)

The Work Menu is a pre-selection of the next tasks you can choose from. It works just like a… Menu. But for work.

This respects both styles of planning because you can plan your weeks and live with a predictable structure, but at the same time, you are prepared for a rebellion. You have a backup plan of important actions that you can work on at any given moment.

How to create a Work Menu:

For around 3-5 of your next projects, pick the next tasks you have aligned for each of them and add all of them to your Work Menu, grouped by project.

Simple as that.

🔗 2 Links

Link 1: Tana Holistic Second Brain

If you feel overwhelmed, stuck, or unproductive in Tana, this is for you!

Or maybe you're just looking for a Tana Second Brain System that's designed for action and applies the mindsets and principles I've shared with you today!

Either way, I'm very excited to share this Template with you, as I've been working on it for months and I deeply believe it can massively improve your productivity using Tana.

The Template will be delivered during a 90 min Workshop on September 20th, and there will also be a Q&A session on September 30th so that you can ask questions, clarify any doubts, and make special requests.

Both events will be recorded and made available in the Tana Impact Cosmos community in Circle. Access to it is included in the Template as a bonus.

See you there!

Link 2: Mise-en-Place article by Tiago Forte

This is one of my favorite articles from Tiago.

In it, he beautifully explains the concepts from the book Work Clean by Dan Charnas. A book that explains techniques from professional chefs adapted to help knowledge workers become more productive.

It has everything to do with being action-oriented and covers some interesting mindsets that can help you better prepare for action.

A professional kitchen is all about being prepared and being prepared propels you into action.

Give it a read.

Thank you for reading!

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See you in two weeks, my friend!

Cheers and be well,

Fis