Questions I Keep
1. What's the goal?Most work fails before it starts because nobody asked this. Skip it and you're just busy. Get it written down, get everyone to agree on it, then everything else answers to it.
2. Where's the written requirement?No written requirement, no work. It doesn't matter if it comes from inside or outside the organization, it should all live in one place, with one owner. GitLab runs their entire company this way: one handbook, every page has an owner, anyone can propose a change. If you can't point to the document and the person responsible for it, you don't have a requirement yet.
3. Who made the commitment?A request is not a commitment. Clarify what's needed, who owns it, and by when, then get an explicit promise, not just a nod. A "yes" without a "how" is just wishful thinking. (h/t Flores, Voss)
4. What's the system actually rewarding?People do what the system makes easy or profitable. Before blaming the person, find what the system is paying them to do, in time, money, recognition, or safety. That's what you'll keep getting until the system changes. (h/t Charlie Munger)
5. What's everyone ignoring?The most valuable problems in any organization are the ones nobody owns. They've been there so long they became invisible. Name one and you've already done more than everyone who walked past it. That's my job.