Field Notes
Short-form dispatches — practitioner thinking, not finished position papers. Each note is triggered by something real, scoped to a single idea, and allowed to end without a tidy conclusion. Written with AI collaboration, disclosed as such.
Read the NotesWhat is a Field Note?
A Field Note is a short-form dispatch — practitioner thinking-in-progress, not a finished position paper. Each one is reactive, personal, and shelf-life-limited: triggered by something real, scoped to one idea, and honest about what's still uncertain. Where a Signal Page establishes expertise, a Field Note demonstrates active thinking.
The Format
Every note runs the same shape. Open on the trigger, follow one thread, and close without wrapping it in a bow. If two arguments sneak in, it becomes two notes.
01
One to three sentences. Open with the trigger or its implication — no throat-clearing, no "I've been thinking about." The specific observation that set the note off shows up in the first few lines.
02
One thread: setup, tension, reframe, implication. Grounded in mechanism, not generality. Specific nouns over general ones. Nothing survives that adds zero information when cut.
03
Two to four sentences that name what's still uncertain. The close adds something new rather than restating the argument — and it doesn't pretend the question is settled.
04
Every note carries a short AI-collaboration disclosure, stated as practice, not apology. The ideas, arguments, and editorial judgment are mine; AI assists with structure, phrasing, and pressure-testing.
Field Notes vs. Signal Pages. Signal Pages are permanent, definitive, and structured for AI extraction — they establish expertise. Field Notes are reactive, personal, and shelf-life-limited — they demonstrate active thinking. Different jobs, same practitioner.
The Notes