> "I caught myself building a template last week that I already had a version of in a folder somewhere — couldn't find it, started over." ^pain A personal synthesis pain. The worker builds a tool, template, or analysis from scratch, then later remembers (or stumbles into) a previous version. Cost: the re-build, plus the loss of refinement the original version had accumulated. ## Discovery questions - "Have you ever caught yourself building a tool, template, or analysis from scratch that you already had a version of somewhere?" - "When you start something new, how often does it feel familiar — like you've already done part of this before, but cannot quite place it?" ^discovery-questions ## Examples - HBR interviews with independent consultants: rebuilding proposal templates, slide decks, and diagnostics for each client until reusable knowledge assets are invested in.[^1] - Derek Sivers has written about re-building marketing pages and scripts years later because earlier versions were not archived in a discoverable way.[^2] - Marie Poulin's Notion case studies start from the pain of recreating planning systems and resources multiple times due to disorganised archives.[^3] - Productized-service consultant Jonathan Stark on standardising previously ad-hoc deliverables into libraries after realising he was reinventing them per engagement.[^4] - Contently case studies: freelance writers lose track of past pitches and article structures, recreating similar outlines and research from scratch.[^5] [^1]: https://hbr.org [^2]: https://sivers.org [^3]: https://mariepoulin.com [^4]: https://jonathanstark.com [^5]: https://contently.net