↬ Your work’s output is someone else’s input

We can GTDize our life all we want and Zero our Inbox like a pro, but we must remember that these methods/philosophies/lifehacks rely on the concept of actions that we will subsequently compile into lists and (hopefully) execute.

That’s good.

But go one step further : Your work’s output is bound to become someone else’s input. Your research paper on X can either become a reference for A, a basis for periodic reevaluation for B or a model for C. The data you compiled for this year’s financial statement may very well be useful for someone who wants wo aggregate all the departments together.

How can we execute on this? By taking cues from the scientific work ethic.

• Provide context : Clearly explaining why you come to conclusions so-and-so will help the future reader of your work to evaluate if and how your conclusions can be taken as they are, or if more research would be welcome.
• Bundle with data : Along with that .doc or .pdf, provide your reader with the spreadsheet you used. For a small group, email is good (clearly label it as «For Reference»). If you publish it on dead trees, printing an URL for the file seems fine. (Oh, and by the way : please never hand out a non-searchable PDF)
• Call to actions : Explain clearly what you mean by what you say. If no conclusion can be drawn, don’t hesitate to suggest ways to go down the same path to look for other possibilities. Even if these are mere suggestions.
• Offer tests : Your call to action should be conditional. “Provided nothing changes”, “If we don’t reduce the deficit by X”, “Unless competitor X enters the market”, etc. This way, what you say is taken as work, not gospel.