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Start with Many Unknowns

How to start a task with many unknowns by separating blocking questions, assumptions, experiments, and decisions that can wait.

List the unknowns, then classify them:

  • must be answered before action;
  • can be tested through a draft;
  • depends on another person;
  • can wait until a later decision.

Choose the cheapest action that reduces the most important uncertainty: request data, create a sample, test one case, or write an assumption explicitly.

Do not research every branch equally. Update the plan when evidence arrives. Progress in uncertain work is often a better question, not a larger amount of output.