Thinking & decisions21 categories
Find the real question behind the stated one
When the decision keeps stalling and the reasons given do not explain why.
I have stated a question, but I suspect it is not the one that matters. 1. What decision sits underneath this question? A question that is not attached to a decision usually has another one hiding behind it. 2. What would I do differently depending on the answer? If the answer does not change anything, tell me, and find the question that would. 3. Is the stated question a proxy for something harder to say out loud: a disagreement with someone, a concern about risk, a preference I have not admitted? 4. Reframe it. Give me two or three better questions and say which one to answer first. 5. If the stated question is in fact the right one, say so instead of reframing for the sake of it. My question, and the context around it:
Making it yours
- Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
- Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
- If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.
Framing the decision. Working out what is really being decided, how reversible it is, and whose call it should be.
Related prompts
Is this reversible or not?Deciding how much deliberation a decision actually deserves.Who should actually make this call?A decision that has landed on your desk and may not belong there.What is the real question?Going in circles on a problem that keeps shifting shape.Is this reversible?Working out how much deliberation a decision deserves.Who should decide this?A call that may not be yours to make.Urgent or just loud?Something demanding attention it may not deserve.
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