Prepare Everything
Prepare everything before starting; search for nothing after.
Formerly Mise En Place
The kitchen before service: every tool in its position.
Seen in Thomas Vinterberg, Festen, 1998, under the Dogme 95 Vow of Chastity
Try it on your work
Before starting, lay out everything the task will need (tools, materials, references) so that once begun, you search for nothing. The moment the layout is complete, begin. Note the first thing you reached for that wasn't there.
Before a conversation that matters, write the three things it must establish and the one thing you will not say. Enter with the paper in your pocket, not your hand.
Before the next cycle, stage every input it will consume where the cycle will consume it: decisions pre-made, materials pre-positioned, questions pre-answered where possible. Time the cycle; compare it to the last one.
How it has been used
Prepare every condition before beginning: the chef's laid-out stations, the surgeon's tray, the climber's rack ordered on the harness. The move forbids preparing during: once begun, you work with what was laid out, and every reach for something unprepared is a recorded fault.
Where it leads
Grouped under Help me decide what comes first