Just-in-Time Project Management
Assemble projects at the last moment from pre-captured knowledge, like snapping LEGO
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 78%
Just-in-Time Project Management is the emerging top level of Forte's pyramid, borrowed from just-in-time manufacturing. Instead of planning projects far in advance with detailed timelines and Gantt charts, you do the planning at the last responsible moment. The logic: everything else equal, the best time to do something is right before it is needed, because you then have maximum information and wisdom, your solution is close in time to the problem it solves so it cannot go stale, and coordination is easier because you gather people exactly when needed. This sounds irresponsible only because we grew up in a world full of friction. Once your knowledge is externalized in a second brain, a project stops being 'go research this from scratch' and becomes surveying the atoms of knowledge already at your disposal and snapping them together like LEGO pieces, just in time.
Origin
Forte borrowed the concept from just-in-time manufacturing and developed it into a twenty-one-part blog series on his site. It is the methodology he considers the tip of the spear of his current work.
Core principles
- 01The best time to do something is at the last responsible moment
- 02Doing work just in time gives you maximum information about the problem
- 03Externalized knowledge lets you assemble rather than start from scratch
- 04A project becomes snapping together modules you already have
How to run it
- 1
Stock your second brain first
Before this level works, externalize your knowledge into a central tool so you have reusable packets, or atoms, of knowledge already captured and available.
Watch out This level depends on level four; without a stocked second brain there is nothing to assemble just in time.
- 2
Delay planning until the last responsible moment
Resist detailed advance planning with timelines and Gantt charts. Wait until the work is actually needed so you have as much information as possible about the real problem.
- 3
Survey what you already have
When the project begins, look at the packets of knowledge already at your disposal instead of starting from scratch with fresh research.
- 4
Snap the modules together
Assemble the relevant knowledge modules like LEGO pieces into the solution, close in time to the problem so it stays valid, and pull in collaborators only when they are needed.
In the wild
Forte contrasts the old way, where each new project means 'let me go research this thing, let me go read a book', with the just-in-time way. Because his knowledge is externalized in his second brain, when a project arrives he already has little packets of knowledge at his disposal. The project becomes looking at what is available and snapping together those modules like LEGO pieces, done at the last minute so he has as much information as possible about the problem he is solving.
→ Projects assemble quickly from existing knowledge and stay relevant to the current problem.
Common mistakes
Detailed upfront planning for ambiguous work
Planning a project far in advance means the solution is created weeks or months before it is needed and is often no longer valid by then.
Attempting it without an externalized knowledge base
Without a stocked second brain there are no reusable modules to snap together, so last-minute assembly collapses back into starting from scratch.
Is it for you?
Best for
Creative knowledge workers who have externalized their knowledge and do ambiguous project work.
Not ideal for
Beginners without a stocked second brain, or work requiring fixed long-lead coordination.
From the transcript
“everything else being equal the best time to do something is at the last minute right when you do something right before it's actually needed…”
“what a project becomes really is just looking at what's available snapping together these modules like LEGO pieces”
From the episode
The Definitive Guide To Digital Productivity - Tiago Forte - #074
Tiago Forte