• TLDR

  • Evergreen characteristics
    • Long lifespan
    • Low maintenance
    • Useful
  • Building evergreen
    • Automate->reduce maintenance need
    • Simplify-> reduce maintenance need
    • Multipurpose -> reduce maintenance need per process
    • Flexible/Adaptable -> increase reuse

  • Dealing with non evergreen

    • Is the benefit I get bigger than the incured cost

      1- What it is

• Long lifespan & low maintenance

  • Evergreen is tightly linked with things that have a longer lifespan and who do not need too much energy to maintain.

• Evergreen relative to something else

  • The notion of objectives, future and forecasting is also important because something is always evergreen for something and it has to be assessed on future consideration

    1.1- Restricted notion

• Useful evergreen

  • The more general notion of something evergreen is something that will last in time without the need to maintain it. The notion is interesting but if we want to make the most of it and apply it to our life we need to define a more specific notion of evergreen. For that we will need to introduce the notion of usefulness. Something that is evergreen should maintain it’s usefulness for us over time

    2- Why evergreen is important

    2.1- Efficient ratio

• Evergreen is important because it is has a very efficient ratio. With evergreen things you do things once and do not need to repeat them over and over again

  2.2- Compounding effect

• The present action will continue to have effect in the future.

  3- Characteristics

  Here is a list of the common characteristics of things that are evergreen.

  3.1- Evergreen continuum

• Evergreen is not all or nothing. Things can be placed on a continum of evergreen depending on their different characteristics

  3.2- Long lifespan

• If things have existed for a long time you can bet that they will continue for a certain time as well and that they will not be replace too soon. -

  3.3- Reusable things

• Things that you can reuse over and over are often evergreen.

  3.4- Low maintenance

• Things that do not requires maintenance

  3.5- Future usefulness

  Do you think that you will be able to reuse it in the future. Evergreen elements often possess a timeless quality, making them relevant and useful across different time periods.

  3.6- Persistence-Timeless

• Something that persist continue to live overtime

  3.7- Multipurpose

  Things that are multipurpose have more chances to be evergreen since they have more probability to remain useful overtime and that they resource-output ratio per function is likely to be lower since there is shared resources

  4- Not evergreen

  It is often easier to determine if something is evergreen by looking for characteristics that will make it not evergreen. Recognizing things that are not evergreen is also useful because like that you will be able to eliminate them if you judge it necessary.

  4.1- Futile

  If the task is futile that means that it not serve a purpose thus we can consider that the task is not evergreen

  4.2- High maintenance

4.3- Repetitive

• Something that is repetitive is likely to require a sustained amount of effort over time to maintain making it not really evergreen. The usefulness can remain the same but

  4.4- Breakable / Fragile

  If something can break easily it’s potentially not evergreen

  4.5- Complex

  4.5.1- Breakable

  Something that have a high complexity and depend on several things is more likely to break and thus will not stay evergreen.

  4.5.2- Difficult to use

• Something complex is often more difficult to use. And thus more likely to be abandoned.

  4.6- Low lifespan

  Things that have a low lifespan and who do not auto-regenerate will not be evergreen

  4.7- Frequent changes

• Things that changes frequently certainly requires more efforts to stay up to date.

5- Factors in favor of evergreeness

List of factors that can contribute to something being evergreen.

5.1- Modularity

• The concept of modularity—where components of a product, system, or idea can be separated, recombined, or replaced—enhances evergreen potential. This flexibility allows for adaptation and evolution without needing to overhaul the entire system.

  5.2- Customizability

• Products or systems that can be tailored to meet individual needs or preferences tend to remain relevant for longer periods. Customizability ensures that they can adapt to changing user requirements or tastes over time. Ability to adapt things to your need increase the reusability potential and thus decrease the maintenance per process.

  5.3- Simplicity and Ease of Understanding

• Simplicity in design, concept, or execution can make an idea or product more evergreen. When something is easy to understand and use, it’s more likely to be adopted widely and sustainably. Simple things also requires less maintenance.

  5.4- Cross-generational Appeal:

• Items or ideas that resonate across different age groups often have an evergreen quality. This cross-generational appeal ensures that they remain relevant as societal demographics shift.

  5.5- Integrative Potential/ Adaptability/Flexibility

• The ability of a product, idea, or system to integrate seamlessly with other systems or technologies can extend its relevance. As new technologies emerge, those that can integrate well with others are more likely to remain pertinent.

  5.6- Scalability:

• The ability to scale up or down depending on need or context without losing functionality or value can contribute to the evergreen nature of a product or idea. Scalability ensures relevance across different scenarios and use cases.

• Ability to scale up without increase the need for maintenance also contributes to evergreeness.

  5.7- Universal Utility:

  Products or ideas with a wide range of applications or universal utility tend to be more evergreen. If something can be used in multiple contexts or for various purposes, it’s more likely to remain relevant.

  5.8- Symbiotic RelatIonships

• Ideas or products that form symbiotic relationships with other elements in their ecosystem can have enhanced longevity. By being part of a larger system where each element supports and enhances the others, these components gain evergreen characteristics.

  5.9- Slow change

• Things that do not constantly changes are more likely to be evergreen because they will continue in time. No breaking change.

  5.10- No externalities/ No dependences

• If you do not depend on exterior factors you are less likely to break due to externalities not working anymore.

  6- Building evergreen

• You need to make a future projection and forecast how things are in the future. Have they lasted?

• Think about things that you could reuse.

  6.1- Adaptability

  For something to stay relevant it will often need to adapt. Adaptability is key to avoid dying and thus staying useful. However if adaptation requires a lot of resources we are not evergreen anymore

  6.2- Scalability

• Evergreen solutions often have the characteristic of scalability. This means that they can grow or adapt without a significant increase in effort or resource input. This is particularly relevant in the tech industry, where scalable solutions are highly valued.

  6.3- Maintanability

  Make sure that what you design can be easily maintained and can auto maintain

7- Evergreen and big picture

• Evergreen is only one aspect to consider in your big picture. You cannot only focus on things that are evergreen simply because some stuffs that are not evergreen by nature are still important.
• Evergreen wins in the long term simply because things that are not decay or are abandoned before.

8- General Example

• Sisyphus was condemned to an eternity of rolling a large boulder up a steep hill in the underworld.

  • Not evergreen, futile and repetitive nature of a task

    9- Related notion

• Entropy

• The Lindy effect

• Robustness

  10- Related topics

• Ray Dalio unvelling timeless principles at work responsible of rise and decline of Empire

  • For him all those timeless principles are due to the human nature