How to sketch a system before you build it
Ten minutes of boxes and arrows, in four steps, finds the loop you forgot before it costs you a week.
- Systems
Placeholder: this is an invented sample guide. The real Guides are Hyrum’s own how-tos.
Paper works. So does a diagram tool like Boxes and Arrows, which is an invented example.
1. Draw the parts
One box for each thing that holds information or does work: a person, a tool, a file, a list. Use the names people already use.
2. Draw the arrows
An arrow for each time something moves from one box to another. Label it with what moves.
3. Follow every arrow back
For each arrow, ask what happens next and where it returns. Loops you cannot close are where work gets lost.
4. Mark what breaks
Circle the box that would hurt most if it stopped for a week. That is where to build first, and where to keep a backup.