This is not a great solution. Very few problems need unlimited, unbounded research. An effective employee limits him/herself to only the biggest problem and ris

This is not a great solution. Very few problems need unlimited, unbounded research. An effective employee limits him/herself to only the biggest problem and risk areas, rapidly focusing on the biggest unknowns and ignoring the little stuff. If the project is very complex, you MIGHT need to understand the whole thing in excruciating detail... but then you still must take that huge corpus of knowledge and distill it down to software (or a verbal summary for the team!) focused on the highest-risk areas. In this particular case, I think it may help to focus on the business value and timeline. "Your goal is not to do the best X, your goal is to deliver Value Y in Timeline Z. Give me the best one of those you can, but if I don't end up with Y by Z then you're doing it wrong." Help him understand that perfection is not the goal, and that failure to deliver is imperfection.