WORKWAY Philosophy
The Principle
Service as craft—the professional ethos.
WORKWAY is not just a methodology. It's a philosophy of service that applies the Subtractive Triad to professional work.
The Professional Problem
Most professional services are additive:
- More features than needed
- More meetings than necessary
- More complexity than warranted
- More deliverables than useful
Clients pay for activity, not outcomes. Agencies optimize for billable hours, not value delivered.
This is the extraction model of professional services.
The WORKWAY Alternative
WORKWAY inverts the model:
| Traditional | WORKWAY |
|---|---|
| Maximize scope | Minimize scope |
| Bill for time | Bill for value |
| Add features | Remove friction |
| Create dependency | Create capability |
| Impress with complexity | Impress with clarity |
Less scope, more impact.
Being-as-Service
Heidegger distinguished between:
- Dasein: Being-in-the-world, engaged with purpose
- Vorhanden: Present-at-hand, detached observation
Professional services can be either:
Vorhanden Service (Detached)
- Follow the spec exactly
- Deliver what was requested
- Complete the contract
- Move to next client
Dasein Service (Engaged)
- Understand the underlying need
- Deliver what serves the purpose
- Complete the transformation
- Leave lasting capability
WORKWAY is Dasein—engaged service that understands purpose.
The Three Levels in Practice
DRY: Don't Repeat the Client's Mistakes
When clients come with requirements, they've often:
- Copied competitors without understanding why
- Accumulated features from different eras
- Built complexity to solve symptoms
WORKWAY asks: "Have you (or others) built this before?"
Client: "We need a custom CRM"
WORKWAY: "What does your current CRM not do?"
Client: "We can't track X, Y, Z"
WORKWAY: "Could we configure existing tools to track those?"
Result: 80% cost reduction, better solution
Don't build what already exists. Configure before creating.
Rams: Does This Earn Its Existence?
Every deliverable must justify itself:
Proposed deliverables:
- Custom website ✓ (unique brand expression)
- Custom CMS ✗ (existing CMS works fine)
- Custom analytics ✗ (use standard tools)
- Custom forms ✗ (use proven solutions)
- Mobile app ✗ (responsive web is sufficient)
Final scope: Website with integrated CMS
Every feature must earn its place.
Heidegger: Does This Serve the Whole?
Consider the client's system, not just the project:
Questions:
- How does this integrate with existing workflows?
- Who will maintain this after we leave?
- What capabilities does this build or destroy?
- Does this create dependency or autonomy?
The best service leaves clients stronger, not dependent.
The WORKWAY Rhythm
1. Discovery (Understand)
Deep understanding before any proposal:
- What problem are they actually solving?
- What have they tried before?
- What does success look like?
- What constraints matter most?
2. Scoping (Subtract)
Ruthless reduction to essentials:
- What's the smallest intervention that creates the most value?
- What can we not do?
- What can we defer?
- What can be automated or templated?
3. Delivery (Execute)
Focused execution with continuous validation:
- Ship early, validate often
- Change scope based on learning
- Document decisions, not just code
- Transfer knowledge continuously
4. Transition (Empower)
Leave the client stronger:
- Training, not just handoff
- Documentation they'll actually use
- Clear ownership transfer
- Ongoing support option (but not dependency)
Pricing Philosophy
Value-Based Pricing
Price based on value delivered, not time spent:
Traditional: 200 hours × $150/hour = $30,000
WORKWAY:
- Problem: Customer acquisition cost is $500/customer
- Solution: Reduce CAC to $300/customer
- Value: At 1000 customers/year = $200,000/year savings
- Price: $40,000 (20% of first-year value)
Client ROI: 5x in year one, infinite thereafter
Scope Protection
Fixed price for defined scope:
- Scope changes = new agreement
- Additional requests = additional value
- No hourly creep
Clients know costs upfront. We know scope upfront.
Client Selection
Not every client is right for WORKWAY:
Good Fit
- Values quality over speed
- Understands trade-offs
- Has decision-making authority
- Respects expertise
- Wants capability, not dependency
Poor Fit
- Wants everything, now
- Treats vendors as order-takers
- Can't articulate success criteria
- Micro-manages implementation
- Prioritizes busy-work over outcomes
Say no to poor fits. They harm both parties.
The Honest Conversation
WORKWAY requires honesty:
Client: "We want a website with 50 pages"
WORKWAY: "Why do you need 50 pages?"
Client: "Our competitor has 50 pages"
WORKWAY: "Their bounce rate is 90%. Fewer, better pages might serve you better."
Client: "But we have a lot to say"
WORKWAY: "Let's identify the 5 things that actually drive conversions."
Result: 10-page site with 3x conversion rate
Tell clients what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.
Documentation as Service
WORKWAY documentation differs:
Traditional Documentation
- Feature specifications
- Technical architecture
- API references
- Change logs
WORKWAY Documentation
- Decision rationale ("We chose X because...")
- Context for future maintainers
- What we tried and rejected
- How to extend, not just use
Document understanding, not just implementation.
The Craft Mindset
WORKWAY practitioners are craftspeople:
- Care about quality beyond what's required
- Learn continuously from every engagement
- Share knowledge with clients and community
- Improve the craft through honest reflection
Service is not just delivery—it's practice.
Reflection
Before moving on:
- What would change if you priced based on value, not time?
- When was the last time you said no to a client request that would have harmed them?
- How could you leave your next client more capable than you found them?
The best service is service that makes itself unnecessary.
Cross-Property References
Canon Reference: See Universal Utility for how subtractive design principles translate to universal accessibility and service.
Canon Reference: See [Being-as-Service](.agency's role) in the hermeneutic circle—how service work tests and evolves the philosophy.
Practice: The Service Delivery Patterns skill applies these principles in actual client engagements.