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> question like "Will we want to change our action in some way based on the result of this test?" This is my absolute favorite question. I am continually amaze

> question like "Will we want to change our action in some way based on the result of this test?" This is my absolute favorite question. I am continually amazed at how much crap it can cut through.

infogulch 4y ago
My favorite when making long term decisions is "Do we need to make the decision between these choices now, or can we proceed keeping all the choices open and make the decision later?" Sometimes there's a belabored debate between two choices and answering this question can reveal that the choices don't have to branch right now, that they have (or could have) a shared 'path prefix', enabling us to make the choice later when we have more information.
- Cerium 4y ago
  The optimal time to make a decision is the moment before it hits the critical path. Where I work we make this actionable by saying to defer decisions and pull forward unknowns.
  - mathgorges 4y ago
    100% agree with this. You never know what you’ll know in the future :) The phrase “delay the decision to the last responsible moment” is my favorite mantra about this.
    - Cerium 4y ago
      Oh, I like that phrasing. Thanks for sharing.
- blowski 4y ago
  Sometimes there’s an underlying agenda to these conversations. The people involved are like lions trying to find out who’s the “alpha” - they’re less interested in the decision than establishing a hierarchy in the decision-making process.
  - ozim 4y ago
    I really like "alpha" guys when it comes to decisions that they have to take responsibility later on. Usually "alphaing" is about no stakes decisions which makes me super annoyed. Team could just make any decision and be done with it.
jameshart 4y ago
Agreed. This question is a superpower. Not just 'the result of this test', this applies to all kinds of questions. It's also relevant when people ask for ill-specified 'dashboards', or 'reports'. Will what we do change substantially based on what we see on these dashboards? If not, why make them? And if so... can we just automate that behavior so we don't have to rely on someone noticing the dashboard?
- taneq 4y ago
  A related principle is that often you’re really not blocked on things you think you’re blocked on. Waiting on that part / component / email response? Pretend you just got it. Chances are the first thing, or even first few things, you’d do didn’t require the thing you were waiting for.
- rocqua 4y ago
  I think some dashboards are meant for some form of situational awareness. At least "I can see when something is different" ideally even "I can recognize if everything is going well". For those purposes it is difficult to answer 'what will we change' and even harder to automate the process.
  - jameshart 4y ago
    Yes, not arguing dashboards are a bad idea in all cases. If there are five things you always need to go and check when someone asks you ‘is the system running okay?’ Or an alert goes off, by all means put those things on a dashboard. But when someone just says ‘we want to be able to see these numbers’ it’s often worth asking what they plan to do with them.
tempodox 4y ago
This happens in a surprisingly large number of contexts. People raise questions and invest time and energy looking for an answer without the slightest idea how or if the answer will inform future decisions. Seems to be a human fallacy.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

> question like "Will we want to change our action in some way based on the result of this test?" This is my absolute favorite question. I am continually amazed at how much crap it can cut through.

infogulch 4y ago

My favorite when making long term decisions is "Do we need to make the decision between these choices now, or can we proceed keeping all the choices open and make the decision later?" Sometimes there's a belabored debate between two choices and answering this question can reveal that the choices don't have to branch right now, that they have (or could have) a shared 'path prefix', enabling us to make the choice later when we have more information.

Cerium 4y ago
The optimal time to make a decision is the moment before it hits the critical path. Where I work we make this actionable by saying to defer decisions and pull forward unknowns.
- mathgorges 4y ago
  100% agree with this. You never know what you’ll know in the future :) The phrase “delay the decision to the last responsible moment” is my favorite mantra about this.
  - Cerium 4y ago
    Oh, I like that phrasing. Thanks for sharing.
blowski 4y ago
Sometimes there’s an underlying agenda to these conversations. The people involved are like lions trying to find out who’s the “alpha” - they’re less interested in the decision than establishing a hierarchy in the decision-making process.
- ozim 4y ago
  I really like "alpha" guys when it comes to decisions that they have to take responsibility later on. Usually "alphaing" is about no stakes decisions which makes me super annoyed. Team could just make any decision and be done with it.

jameshart 4y ago

Agreed. This question is a superpower. Not just 'the result of this test', this applies to all kinds of questions. It's also relevant when people ask for ill-specified 'dashboards', or 'reports'. Will what we do change substantially based on what we see on these dashboards? If not, why make them? And if so... can we just automate that behavior so we don't have to rely on someone noticing the dashboard?

taneq 4y ago
A related principle is that often you’re really not blocked on things you think you’re blocked on. Waiting on that part / component / email response? Pretend you just got it. Chances are the first thing, or even first few things, you’d do didn’t require the thing you were waiting for.
rocqua 4y ago
I think some dashboards are meant for some form of situational awareness. At least "I can see when something is different" ideally even "I can recognize if everything is going well". For those purposes it is difficult to answer 'what will we change' and even harder to automate the process.
- jameshart 4y ago
  Yes, not arguing dashboards are a bad idea in all cases. If there are five things you always need to go and check when someone asks you ‘is the system running okay?’ Or an alert goes off, by all means put those things on a dashboard. But when someone just says ‘we want to be able to see these numbers’ it’s often worth asking what they plan to do with them.

tempodox 4y ago

This happens in a surprisingly large number of contexts. People raise questions and invest time and energy looking for an answer without the slightest idea how or if the answer will inform future decisions. Seems to be a human fallacy.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]