General Knowledge: High-Leverage Concepts

To eliminate the need for data

To replace stakeholder input

To guarantee success without iteration

To structure thinking and prioritize actions

Retrieval practice (actively recalling information)

Waiting until the night before to study intensely

Re-reading the same notes repeatedly

Listening to background music while skimming

Commit fully without feedback

Maintain a hypothesis-testing mindset

Rely solely on intuition without data

Delay all decisions indefinitely

Waiting until absolute certainty exists

Outsourcing planning to unrelated teams

Iterative experiments with quick feedback loops

One large upfront plan executed without changes

Simple tasks are always unaffected by interruptions

Humans can perform multiple attention-heavy tasks simultaneously without performance loss

Short breaks can improve focus

Practiced skills can become automatic

Avoiding difficult questions entirely

Using jargon to sound authoritative

Only announcing final decisions without context

Explaining reasoning and trade-offs transparently

Tracking both leading and lagging indicators

Using a vanity metric that doesn't reflect user behavior

Using clear definitions and consistent sources

Measuring outcomes tied to user value

Ask users and team members specific, open questions

Double the project budget immediately

Change leadership without investigation

Increase marketing push to compensate