The Part No One Plans For
Most workflows look clean on a diagram.
Data goes in.
Logic runs.
Output comes out.
What never shows up on the diagram is the part where someone asks for a quick snapshot of the data right now.
That’s usually where things slow down.
The Awkward Middle
I run into this when:
- someone needs to see a transformed result before it’s committed
- a script outputs something that doesn’t paste cleanly anywhere
- a doc editor decides to “help” by rewriting my content
None of this is hard to fix properly.
It’s just not worth fixing properly every time.
Temporary Fixes for Temporary Friction
At this point, I don’t think in terms of solutions.
I think in terms of unblocking the next step.
That usually means:
- transforming data just enough to move it
- sharing it once
- discarding the process afterward
No persistence.
No structure.
No ceremony.
Back to Real Work
Once the handoff is done, I go back to the actual task.
The temporary step disappears, and the workflow continues as if it never happened — which is exactly how it should be.
Top comments (0)