My Matrix Moment: Seeing the World as Workflows

Three months ago, I took the red pill and had a type of awakening. I joined the world of open source technology with Temporal and life hasn’t been the same since. Much like Neo's transformative awakening to a higher truth, I've come to realise that everything is a workflow.

From software systems to everyday tasks, the world now appears as a series of orchestrated steps, retries, and conditional paths.

My morning coffee is no longer an "express pour and hope" experience that I?fumble through with inconsistent results. It’s now a workflow that requires careful orchestration.

• Step 1: Check prerequisites. Is the espresso machine powered on? Is there enough coffee, water, and milk? If not, trigger the appropriate sub-workflows: “Refill beans,” “Add water,” or “Run to the local servo”.
• Step 2: Grind coffee beans. Input: fresh beans. Output: perfectly ground coffee. If the grind size is off, handle retries with a quick adjustment.
• Step 3: Pull the espresso shot. Execute with a timeout handler - anything over 30 seconds, and we’re in over-extraction territory.
• Step 4: Steam the milk. Run this for “microfoam consistency”. Ensure parallel execution with Step 3 to maximise efficiency. Monitor for overheating to prevent scorched milk (failure is not an option here).
• Step 5: Combine and complete. Pour the espresso into the cup, add the steamed milk, and assess the latte art attempt (Don't expect Picasso. Something resembling?a heart shaped?blob is good enough given my limited baristonian skill set).
• Step 6: Success or retry? Taste. If it’s creamy perfection with a hint of bitter dark chocolate, proceed to the “start the day” workflow. If not, flag the process for debugging - grind size, milk temperature, or if all else fails resort to a skilled "human in the loop" and go to my local cafe.

Sounds excessive? Maybe. Seeing the world through workflows makes everything, even making coffee, feel like an adventure in optimisation and creativity.

But after three months at Temporal, I now see workflows everywhere. And honestly? My coffee is still a work in progress, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.?

If you'd like?to discover how Temporal can guarantee?successful execution of?your workflows - direct message me. We can chat over coffee... I 'm sure we can find a decent coffee shop :)?

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Chris Marshment is a Strategic Enterprise Account Manager at Temporal. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Temporal.