---
title: "Not every workflow is a chain"
description: "Before I build a skill or an agent, I look at the shape of my work. A chain, a branch, a nest or a diamond, and what that changes."
language: en
source: https://coachsteff.live/en/een-workflow-is-geen-ketting
---

# Not every workflow is a chain

When I ask people to describe a workflow, I almost always get a list. First I do this, then that, and then that. That is just how we think. This week I saw it again in a training, when we started building skills. Everyone wrote their steps neatly below each other.

That is actually a good start. But a lot of work does not run in a straight line. And when you see the shape of your work, you also know better what to ask your AI. So in that training I showed a few shapes, with examples from my own work.

## Chains and branches

Everyone knows the chain. Step one, step two, step three. That works well for a task that always goes the same way. An invoice that comes in, gets checked and gets booked, for example.

A branch is a bit different. There, one input goes in different directions. For me, that is very concrete. When I am in the car after a training day, I record a short report of the day. What have I been working on, what needs to be followed up? That report is actually fuel for my agents. One agent extracts ideas for new articles from it. Another extracts actions that still need to happen. It is one recording, but it feeds multiple processes at the same time.