The famous British writer Rudyard Kipling wrote that in
carrying out his work he used “six honest working men”: Who, What, When, Why,
Where, and How. By asking these questions he could write an article for a
newspaper, a poem, a story. They were the starting point for his exploration of
a subject.
Similarly they should be the foundation for all project
managers combating bias and the tendency to believe that “What you see is all
there is” (WYSIATI). Forcing yourself to ask these six questions when you reach
the Decide portion of the Observe, Orient, Decide, Act (OODA) loop will
prevent you from rushing to a premature conclusion because your mind’s system 1
(the reptilian part) overrides your lazy system 2 (the rational analytical part).
Certainly after every new piece of information you should
ask yourself “so what?” What does this piece of information mean? What is its
impact on the current situation? What should I do with it? And so on with the
other “honest working men”. It doesn’t mean you’ll always come to the right
conclusion, but you are certainly more likely to avoid a rushed one.
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