A fleeting success is one that works in the moment but cannot be revisited. I find myself often having fleeting successes in the realm of work. For example, my boss will ask me to help him reply with accurate details to an email regarding our plant performance. This results in me creating a spreadsheet to house the data related to the answer, then perform the analysis, then I'll email the spreadsheet to him alongside an explanation for sending along up the chain.

I have no occasion to return to that success and see it flourishing. The person most likely saw the analysis, nodded assent, and communicated it to some other person who had asked. One might think my company is particularly flush with middle management, but I would wager we're not much different than most of corporate America, especially not in the chemical industry.

That spreadsheet is not a lasting success, despite being a good work product. Most excel spreadsheets have a difficult time being a lasting success. Microsoft Excel doesn't scale with a large amount of data. One is better off using a SQL database. Also, people tend to make niche spreadsheets, even if data contained in them is interconnected. There will be a tab here that has information relevant to one topic, and a tab there to another. Not only that, but a third tab in a completely different spreadsheet (in a separate network folder) has other data that's separate but could be usefully connected. There's significant issues connecting datasets in excel spreadsheets. If that weren't enough, there's not a good way to version control analyses. And don't get me started on typical documentation contained in spreadsheets…

I do have hope for lasting success in my life, however, with two examples. The first is my zettelkasten. The more I read and use it, the more permanent thoughts that are mine and connected. With each effort I put into the system, the more the success accumulates. This was true when I started my zettelkasten using only the emacs text editor, but has skyrocketed since I added it to my personal website.

In addition to hosting the zettelkasten, my website has many other UI's for managing parts of my life. I have been making steady progress on my website since 2022. I use it more and more in my life because it is more useful the more I invest time in it.

My programming skills are increasing all the time. When I go to upgrade or patch the webiste I don't have to start from scratch, the work is accumulating to make the overall experience better and better.

I argue one should work on this type of work. The accumulation of successes leads to value. There's value to be had from writing using a zettelkasten. Many people derive incredible value from tools they pay for online, and I'm not having to pay for my own home grown tools.

What have you worked on lately? Is it accumulating successes for you? Will it last?

In other words, when you revisit that in-the-moment success two months or two years later, will it be more valuable to you or others as time has passed?