1. A method for creating and using self-describing events in automated workflow management comprising: querying a plurality of managed components of a computing system to identify a list of producible, self-described event types that may be experienced by the plurality of managed components for use in generating an automated workflow; in response to the query, receiving a response from each of the managed components including the list of producible, self-described event types, attributes of each producible, self-described event type, and a grammar to which each producible, self-described event type conforms; processing each response to define desired event types as triggers for steps in an automated workflow using desired attributes of each event type as arguments to workflow steps; storing, in a data store, the event types defined as triggers in the automated workflow; monitoring the plurality of managed components and detecting events of the event types defined in the automated workflow and stored in the data store; processing each detected event to create a machine readable data payload containing event information including the event type, event attributes, and a grammar to which the event conforms; and using an action processor to process the data payload in the manner defined by the automated workflow, the action processor using the provided grammar of the event type to interpret the attributes of the event and perform one or more actions defined by the automated workflow.