Find out exactly what needs to be done. So often the assumed goals of for an activity are malformed or the result of misunderstandings. Spending time pinning d

Find out exactly what needs to be done. So often the assumed goals of for an activity are malformed or the result of misunderstandings. Spending time pinning down what has to be done, why, and what the value of it is enables many other questions to be asked such as "wouldn't it be better to do X instead." The answer to that can often be a simple "no, because Y" but sometimes knowing Y is extremely helpful, and sometimes the answer is "yes, you are right" which is much better.