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And yet more quotes July 5, 2006

Posted by workflow in Blade Runner, Famous Quotes, My Diner with Andre, workflow.
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A few more quotes before I get back to actually writing my blog.  These ones come from two of my favorite films.

All he’d wanted were the same answers the rest of us want. Where did I come from? Where am I going? How long have I got?

-Bladerunner

Stanislavsky said the actor should constantly ask himself as a character: “Who am I? Why am I here? Where do I come from? And where am I going?”

-My Dinner with Andre 

These top two quotes are essentially the same.  How do you relate them to workflow.  Well I think for every user or character within a workflow system they need to easily see within a processes: where they are, how did they get there, what they are suppose to do, what is going to happen next and how long do they have to complete the step.

And if you’re just operating by habit, then you’re not really living. I mean, you know, in Sanskrit the root of the verb “to be” is the same as the verb “to grow” or “to make grow.”

-My Dinner with Andre 
This quote seems to get at the heart of what empowers workflow management systems or BPMS.  That is the notion of continual improvement or continual growth.  It also implies that if you cease to grow you cease to be.  So many people working in systems today are really just operating by habit, without a thought of how could this process be easier.  It is not their fault they are just not exposed to something that allows them an overall view of what they are doing so they can make suggestions or changes.