[Chris]

Originally Posted by SpiralOcean

My definition of a project is...
Something you want to happen in your life that requires more than one action.

My definition of a parent action is...
an action that moves a project toward completion that requires more than one action for it's own completion.

My problem with these definitions is that they are really the same definition, which is why I don't like your model (or the current OF model) of how parent actions should work. It seems to me that you're using parent actions as a stand in for subprojects. This can work (and is the only way to do things in the current OF), but it's not the Right Way to do things because it confuses the distinction between actions and projects.

Here's the distinction between an action and a project: actions can have prerequisites, but not postrequisites, while projects can have both pre- and postrequisites. So an action might have to wait for something else to be done first, but once all the prerequisites are done, the action can be completed in a single step. On the other hand, as you say, projects are things that require multiple actions. IIRC, this is the Dave Allen definition as well.

I'll do a post a little later on How Things Should Work. (IMO, of course!)