Exercise 1: The System Map

Time: 15-30 minutes

Create a visual or textual map of your entire automation system.

Include:

• All workflows you've built during this course (at minimum: Morning Brief, Inbox Triage, custom API integration)
• What triggers each workflow? (schedule, webhook, manual trigger, etc.)
• What data does each workflow produce or consume?
• Where does data live? (databases, spreadsheets, APIs, files)
• Are there dependencies? If Workflow B uses data from Workflow A, draw an arrow or note the dependency

Format options:

• Hand-drawn and photographed
• Google Drawing or Lucidchart
• Miro board
• Simple text outline or ASCII diagram
• Notion page with interconnected database

What it should answer:

• If Workflow A breaks, what downstream systems would be affected?
• Where is data produced, and where is it consumed?
• Is this a coherent system, or am I noticing gaps and overlaps I didn't see before?

Why this matters:

This is your first time seeing the whole system at once. It's common to discover that you have two workflows doing similar things in different ways, or data living in multiple places, or dependencies you didn't realize existed. That's valuable insight. Write it down.