Sometimes you begin a conversation, or announce a project, or otherwise start something. What goes up must come down[1] and just so most things that get started should get finished. It's like starting a parenthesis, every open ( should be paired with a matching ). Some such things are begun by other people, but still need you to finish them.
"Finish the thing" often includes "tell people you've finished." I think of the tell people part as "closing the loop." Closing the loop is a surprisingly useful part of doing things when working in groups.
The personal benefit in closing the loop is primarily in having one less thing to track as a dangling "should I do something about that?" I try to maintain a list of all the projects or tasks I've undertaking, sorted neatly by topic and priority but at least written down and not lost. When for whatever reason my ability to maintain that list in written form gets disrupted, I start tracking it in my head and start getting worried I'll forget something. My understanding is lots of other people do it in their heads most of the time, and are often worried they're forgetting something.
The benefit to others is that they know the task got done. If they asked you to do it, plausibly it's still hanging around on their todo list to check and see if the thing got done. Why would they do that instead of just trusting you to finish the task in a timely and effective manner? Experience Because people commonly get busy or distracted, and the task winds up not getting finished. Actively telling them 'yep, job done' is helpful. Even saying 'actually, I've decided not to do this' is useful!
Those two reasons give rise to my great appreciation for ticket management systems like Trello or Jira, and why I tend to recreate them in various forms wherever I go. But there's another context I've learned closing the loop is surprisingly useful.
In social conflicts, letting people know when a situation has (from your perspective at least) reached a resting state turns out to be especially helpful. If you were planning to talk to another party, or take a night to think about things, or otherwise the ball is in your court, then telling the first person when you've finished is helpful to them. "Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I've finished my investigation, and at present based on my understanding I think no further action is necessary." Basically, when you've stopped doing things, try and summarize your current resting state to the people directly involved who might reasonably expect to hear something back.
(If you're reading this around when I post it in Jan 2026, and you're thinking hey I've got an open loop with Screwtape he hasn't closed- yeah, there's more than a couple threads like that. This one's not a "ahah, I have been Successful and will tell others of my Success" post, this is a "dang, I keep dropping the ball in this particular way the last couple months" post.)
Sometimes you begin a conversation, or announce a project, or otherwise start something. What goes up must come down[1] and just so most things that get started should get finished. It's like starting a parenthesis, every open ( should be paired with a matching ). Some such things are begun by other people, but still need you to finish them.
"Finish the thing" often includes "tell people you've finished." I think of the tell people part as "closing the loop." Closing the loop is a surprisingly useful part of doing things when working in groups.
The personal benefit in closing the loop is primarily in having one less thing to track as a dangling "should I do something about that?" I try to maintain a list of all the projects or tasks I've undertaking, sorted neatly by topic and priority but at least written down and not lost. When for whatever reason my ability to maintain that list in written form gets disrupted, I start tracking it in my head and start getting worried I'll forget something. My understanding is lots of other people do it in their heads most of the time, and are often worried they're forgetting something.
The benefit to others is that they know the task got done. If they asked you to do it, plausibly it's still hanging around on their todo list to check and see if the thing got done. Why would they do that instead of just trusting you to finish the task in a timely and effective manner?
ExperienceBecause people commonly get busy or distracted, and the task winds up not getting finished. Actively telling them 'yep, job done' is helpful. Even saying 'actually, I've decided not to do this' is useful!Those two reasons give rise to my great appreciation for ticket management systems like Trello or Jira, and why I tend to recreate them in various forms wherever I go. But there's another context I've learned closing the loop is surprisingly useful.
In social conflicts, letting people know when a situation has (from your perspective at least) reached a resting state turns out to be especially helpful. If you were planning to talk to another party, or take a night to think about things, or otherwise the ball is in your court, then telling the first person when you've finished is helpful to them. "Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I've finished my investigation, and at present based on my understanding I think no further action is necessary." Basically, when you've stopped doing things, try and summarize your current resting state to the people directly involved who might reasonably expect to hear something back.
(If you're reading this around when I post it in Jan 2026, and you're thinking hey I've got an open loop with Screwtape he hasn't closed- yeah, there's more than a couple threads like that. This one's not a "ahah, I have been Successful and will tell others of my Success" post, this is a "dang, I keep dropping the ball in this particular way the last couple months" post.)
unless it achieves escape velocity