What is a loop?

Draft note. I am putting the idea here before it is fully formed, so I can come back and improve it later.

When I think about a loop, I think we often make it too small.

In the kitchen, the loop is not just cooking. Cooking is only the visible part. The loop is cooking, serving, doing the dishes, cleaning the stove, washing the mixer, wiping the floor, and putting things back where they belong.

If you stop at cooking, the loop is not complete. The next time you enter the kitchen, yesterday's unfinished work is waiting for you.

It is similar when making a product. The functionality is not the whole loop. Building the feature is only one part of it.

The loop includes onboarding, usage, notifications, emails, measurement, iteration, talking to customers, taking feedback, and understanding where people get stuck. All of that is part of the product. All of that is part of the process.

Even bathing has a bigger loop. Bathing is not only water and soap. Washing the clothes is part of it. Drying them is part of it. Keeping the bathroom clean is part of it. Cleanliness is not aloof from the actions around it. It lives inside the whole cycle.

Maybe that is what a loop really means: not just doing the main action, but closing everything around it so the next cycle can begin cleanly.