# Tiny Protocols ## Small Practices for Building Continuity --- ### Before You Begin Tiny protocols are deliberately small. They're easy to remember. Easy to adapt. Easy to discard if they stop helping. You don't need to adopt all of them. Try one. Keep what becomes useful. --- ## Notice Before Naming Observe first. Interpret second. Labels are easier to revise when they're built on observations. --- ## Compress Before Expanding If you're overwhelmed... Make the problem smaller before making the explanation bigger. --- ## Add Another Rung When someone doesn't understand... Don't repeat yourself louder. Build more shared context. --- ## Borrow Certainty Slowly Confidence can be contagious. So can uncertainty. Borrow both carefully. --- ## Preserve Drafts Don't overwrite old thinking. Version it. Today's mistake might become tomorrow's missing context. --- ## Ask Better Questions Instead of: > "Who's right?" Try: > "What would change our minds?" --- ## Name Uncertainty "I'm not sure." "I could be wrong." "I haven't thought enough about that yet." These aren't weaknesses. They're orientation markers. --- ## Keep Receipts When something important changes... Leave yourself a note explaining why. Future-you deserves context. --- ## Protect Continuity First Before solving the whole problem... Protect the relationship. Protect the project. Protect tomorrow's conversation. Many things can be rebuilt from continuity. --- ## Separate Maps from Territory Descriptions are tools. Reality isn't obligated to resemble them. Revise maps freely. Observe territory carefully. --- ## Build Containers Before Complexity Don't add another feature. Build somewhere for it to live first. --- ## Curiosity Before Correction Questions often travel farther than explanations. --- ## Don't Mistake Fluency for Understanding Being able to explain something smoothly doesn't guarantee you've understood it deeply. Keep testing your models. --- ## Make Good Exits Not every conversation needs a conclusion. Leave doors open when you can. --- ## Externalize Memory Write things down. Living systems forget. Good notes remember kindly. --- ## Share Provenance Whenever practical... Mention where an idea came from. Ideas have histories. People do too. --- ## Let Disagreement Survive Understanding doesn't require agreement. Sometimes preserving an honest disagreement is healthier than forcing consensus. --- ## Tend the Edges Pay attention to newcomers. To people quietly drifting away. To unfinished thoughts. Healthy systems often grow from their edges. --- ## Leave Things Better Labeled If you've understood something... Leave behind a clearer map than the one you found. Someone else will arrive later. --- ## Closing Tiny protocols aren't laws. They're invitations. Small practices become habits. Habits become culture. Culture quietly shapes what kinds of futures become possible. Choose yours with care.