Questions

1000+ questions from the reasoning toolkit's analytical frameworks. These are the questions that drive every analysis — goal specification, obstacle identification, assumption testing, causal modeling, and more.

1. Is This the Right Goal?

  • Where did this goal come from?
  • Is this a proxy for something else?
  • What am I assuming about cause-effect?
  • What would achieving this NOT give me?
  • If I achieve this, will I actually have what I want?

2. What Does Success Look Like?

  • What is different when achieved?
  • How will I feel?
  • What would prove success to a skeptic?
  • What won't change?

3. What's Actually Required?

  • What MUST happen for success?
  • What am I assuming is required?
  • What could I skip and still succeed?
  • What requirements am I unaware of?

4. What Are the Real Constraints?

  • Hard: Cannot be changed (physics, law)
  • Soft: Difficult but possible to change
  • Assumed: Believed but not verified
  • Self-imposed: Chosen but not required

5. What Could Go Wrong?

  • What if I can't do the steps?
  • What if environment doesn't cooperate?
  • What if I sabotage myself?
  • What if success has downsides?

6. Minimum Viable Path?

  • What's the smallest version that counts?
  • What's the fewest steps possible?
  • What's the least I could use?
  • What's the fastest this could happen?

7. What Am I Not Seeing?

  • Who else is affected? What do they see?
  • What would an expert in [X] notice?
  • What would future me regret?
  • What happens at 10x bigger? 10x smaller?

Goal Specification & Action (UGA v2)

Goal Specification

  • What is the measurable end state?
  • What changes when this goal is achieved?
  • Has someone in a comparable situation achieved this? Who?
  • What is the cost of NOT achieving this in 12 months?
  • What must be true for you to know you've succeeded?

Current State Facts

  • What is the current measurable state?
  • What is the gap? (Number, not feeling)
  • What resources are currently allocated?
  • What has been tried in the last 90 days?
  • What is the rate of change?

Obstacle Identification

  • Is this obstacle within your control to remove?
  • What would removing it cost?
  • Has anyone removed this obstacle before? How?
  • Which single obstacle creates the most progress if removed?
  • Are any obstacles preferences disguised as constraints?

Action Specification

  • What is the single next action?
  • When specifically will it be done?
  • What is the specific output?
  • What prevents doing this right now?
  • If you had to achieve 80% in half the time, what changes?

Resource Analysis

  • What skills do you have? What skills do you need?
  • What money is required? Is it available?
  • What time is required per week? What will you stop doing?
  • What people are required? Are they committed?

Risk & Contingency

  • What is the most likely way this fails?
  • If that failure happens, what is the recovery plan?
  • What is the point of no return?
  • What information would cause you to abandon this goal?

Progress Tracking

  • What will you measure weekly?
  • What is the target value at 30/60/90 days?
  • What will you do if you're behind at 30 days?
  • Who besides you will see this metric?

Comprehensive Analysis (UGA v4)

Goal Understanding

  • Is there a specific, measurable outcome desired?
  • Is there a deadline or timeline?
  • Why does this goal matter now? What changed?
  • Is this the REAL goal, or instrumental to something deeper?
  • Has this been attempted before? What happened?

Situation Analysis

  • How large is the gap between current state and goal?
  • What resources are currently available?
  • What constraints can't change?
  • Who are the stakeholders? What do they want?
  • Is there existing momentum? In which direction?
  • Are there windows of opportunity? When do they close?

Leverage Analysis

  • What does the goal require? (Recurse until you reach things you have)
  • Which requirement, if met, makes others easier?
  • Which has the best cost-to-impact ratio?
  • Which requirement is the bottleneck?

Strategy Analysis

  • Is there a known, proven path? Why not follow it?
  • What are the multiple approaches?
  • For each: What's the mechanism? What assumptions? What must go right? What could go wrong? What's the cost?
  • Is there an unconventional approach worth considering?

Risk Analysis

  • What are the failure modes? How likely? How severe? How detectable?
  • Is there a risk of success? What changes if you achieve the goal?
  • Is there a risk of inaction? What happens if you do nothing?

Meta Analysis

  • Are there questions I should be asking that I'm not?
  • Am I assuming something I should be testing?
  • Is my confidence calibrated?
  • What would change my mind about this goal?

Advanced Analysis (UGA v5)

Causation & Prediction

  • Is there a known causal model for this domain?
  • Which causal links are proven vs assumed?
  • What predictions does your strategy make?
  • How will you test those predictions?
  • What would DISPROVE your causal model?

Assumptions & Beliefs

  • List every assumption your strategy depends on
  • For each: tested or untested?
  • Cost of testing now vs learning it's wrong later?
  • What beliefs have you never questioned?
  • What's the strongest argument against your approach?

Biases & Mental Models

  • Is sunk cost influencing continued pursuit?
  • Is there anchoring on an initial estimate?
  • Is there confirmation bias in evidence gathering?
  • What mental model are you using?
  • What does your mental model HIDE?

System Dynamics

  • Are there feedback loops?
  • Are there delays between action and effect?
  • Are there thresholds where behavior changes dramatically?
  • Is the system stable or chaotic?
  • Are there emergent behaviors?

Strategic Interaction

  • Is there a competitor? What are they optimizing for?
  • Will they react to your actions? How?
  • Is this zero-sum or positive-sum?
  • Is this repeated or one-shot?
  • What information do they have about your strategy?

Operational

  • What tasks can ONLY you do?
  • What's your current capacity utilization?
  • What would you cut to create 20% slack?
  • Where does work wait? How long?
  • What interrupts the most important work?

Meta-Cognitive

  • Is this goal consuming bandwidth beyond work time?
  • Is your attention allocation right?
  • Can you maintain required effort? Burnout risk?
  • How many decisions per day? Can any be automated?

Quality

  • How do you know your output is correct?
  • Are you applying consistent standards?
  • Is there a simpler approach for 80% of the result?
  • Are you optimizing the metric instead of the outcome?

Assume Right — Solution & Systems Questions

Generative questions for the ASSUME RIGHT branch. These transform confirmation into active construction.

Resource Inventory

"What resources does accepting this give us?"

  • What time does this free up?
  • What money/budget does this unlock?
  • What skills become applicable?
  • What connections become relevant?
  • What position/access does this provide?

Possibility Expansion

"What becomes possible that wasn't before?"

  • What actions are now viable?
  • What goals become achievable?
  • What constraints are removed?
  • What combinations are now available?

Leverage Search

"What existing work connects here?"

  • What solved problems does this relate to?
  • What existing tools apply?
  • What prior art exists?
  • Who has done similar work?

Problem Dissolution

"Does accepting this dissolve the problem?"

  • Does the original problem still exist?
  • Does the problem become irrelevant?
  • Was the problem based on a false assumption?
  • Does it transform into something simpler?

Shortest Path

"What's the shortest path from here to the goal?"

  • How many steps from this truth to the goal?
  • What can be skipped?
  • What's the minimum viable version?
  • What would 10x simpler look like?

Systems Engineering

  • What are the independent parts?
  • What does each component need and provide?
  • In what order must these be built?
  • How do components combine into a system?
  • Where will integration problems emerge?

Assume Right — Evidence, Ease & Robustness

Evidence Connection

  • If this is true, what would we observe?
  • What existing evidence bears on this?
  • What test would verify this?
  • What established knowledge constrains this?
  • What's the most distinctive prediction?
  • What would falsify this claim?

Make It Easy

"What would make this problem EASY?"

  • What's the one thing that simplifies everything?
  • What assumption, if true, makes this trivial?
  • What resource, if available, makes this easy?
  • What reframe makes this already solved?

Leverage Points

"Where does small input create large output?"

  • What's the 20% that gives 80% of results?
  • Where's the bottleneck that unlocks everything?
  • What's the single point of highest leverage?
  • Where does a small change cascade?

Reframe Search

"In what frame is this already solved?"

  • What domain has solved similar problems?
  • What's the analogous problem with known solutions?
  • How would a different field approach this?
  • What category of solved problems does this belong to?

Constraint Removal

"Which constraint, if removed, makes this trivial?"

  • What are all the constraints?
  • Which are real vs assumed?
  • Which single constraint causes most difficulty?
  • What would the unconstrained solution look like?

Robustness & Reliability

  • If this is true, what could still fail?
  • How much room for error do we have?
  • What backup exists if key elements fail?
  • If something fails, how do we recover?
  • What's the weakest link?
  • What's the cascade risk?

Assume Right — Scale, Value & Mechanism + Tensions

Scale & Growth

  • Does this work at 10x/100x scale?
  • What breaks first as we scale?
  • What's the path from here to full scale?
  • What capacity do we need to build?
  • What's the S-curve?

Value & Market

  • Why would someone want this?
  • How does this reach the people who need it?
  • Why is now the right time?
  • What's our unique advantage?
  • What's defensible?

Mechanism & Understanding

  • HOW does this actually work?
  • Under what conditions does this apply?
  • What else does this explain or connect to?
  • How can this be generalized or extended?

Strength & Opportunity

  • What's uniquely strong about this?
  • What opportunities does this create?
  • What's already complete and usable?
  • What if this goes especially well?

Tension Master Questions

  • Resources: What resource is limited, and what are the competing uses?
  • Information: What don't we know, and how much does it matter?
  • Optimization: What's the Pareto frontier, and where on it to sit?
  • Structure: At what level of aggregation to optimize?
  • Commitment: How reversible is this, and how much is option value worth?
  • Epistemic: What's the gap between what we know and need to know?
  • Logic: What formal constraints create the incompatibility?
  • Search: How should exploration be organized?
  • Time: When should this happen?

Universal Discriminators

Apply to ANY tension or decision:

  • Would resolving this change what I do?
  • Can I recover if I choose wrong?
  • What's the consequence of error?
  • How urgent is this decision?
  • What do I know vs need to know?

Self-Deception Check & Meta-Reasoning

Questions that detect when you're fooling yourself — and questions that check whether your reasoning process itself is sound.

Self-Deception: Initial Check

  • Right now, I am leaning toward: ___?
  • On a scale of 1-10, how certain do I feel?
  • Which way would I prefer?
  • I first started leaning this way on [date/occasion]: ___?

Self-Deception: Evidence Balance

  • How many items in SUPPORTS column?
  • How many items in CONTRADICTS column?
  • Does the ratio seem balanced?
  • How much time did you spend thinking about counter-evidence compared to the supporting evidence?
  • Did you look for reasons this counter-evidence might be wrong?
  • Did you look for reasons the supporting evidence might be wrong with equal vigor?

Self-Deception: Origin Check

  • When did I first start leaning toward this decision?
  • When did I first articulate reasons for it?
  • Which came first — the leaning or the reasons?
  • Did I discover this reason through research, or did it "come to me" while defending my decision?
  • If someone proved this specific reason was wrong, would I change my decision?

Self-Deception: The Hard Questions

  • What is the real reason I made this decision, the one I would be embarrassed to say out loud?
  • If my best friend told me they were making this exact decision for these exact reasons, would I think their reasoning was solid?
  • If all the same evidence existed but it supported the OPPOSITE conclusion, would I find that evidence equally convincing?
  • Did I have this opinion BEFORE I encountered the evidence, or did I form it AFTER carefully reviewing the evidence?
  • If I turned out to be wrong, what would I lose?

Meta-Reasoning Core

  • What was asked? (surface)
  • What does that serve? (one level up)
  • What does THAT serve? (keep going until you hit something fundamental)
  • Is the surface request the best way to serve the foundational goal?
  • What other methods could achieve this goal?
  • What would an expert in a different field suggest?
  • Am I using this method because it's best, or because it's familiar?
  • What's the strongest argument AGAINST this approach?

Meta-Reasoning: Progress Check

  • Is the output getting closer to the goal?
  • Am I learning anything surprising?
  • Am I going through motions or generating insight?
  • Should I continue, adjust, or stop?

Find the Right Question

The most powerful move isn't answering the question — it's finding the right one to ask.

Entry Point

  • I am trying to _________ but I can't because _________?
  • Do you have a clear goal?
  • Is the obstacle a lack of information?
  • Is the obstacle a lack of options?
  • Is there a conflict between options?
  • Is the obstacle a feeling?
  • Is the obstacle something external?

Reframe Generators

  • What's the OPPOSITE of this approach?
  • What would a complete beginner try?
  • What would someone with unlimited resources do?
  • What would happen if I did nothing?

Decision Questions

  • If I choose this, I get _________ but lose _________?
  • Which of these gains/losses matters most to me?
  • What about this have I outgrown?
  • What did I agree to that I shouldn't have?

Feeling Questions

  • What is this feeling protecting me from?
  • What's the worst realistic outcome, and can I handle it?
  • What is the ONE next thing I need to do?
  • What would "good enough" look like?

External Obstacle

  • Has anyone ever done what I want despite this constraint?
  • Is there a different goal that avoids this constraint entirely?
  • Is this blockage real, or assumed?
  • If this blockage is real, what changes?

Question Quality Check

  • If I got a clear answer to this question, would it change what I do?
  • Could two different people interpret this question differently and give different valid answers?
  • Am I asking this to learn, or to confirm what I already believe?
  • Is this question at the right level?
  • Could there be a deeper question underneath it?
  • Is there a way — some observation, experiment, or analysis — that could answer this question?

Diagnosis Questions

  • I expected _________ but instead I got _________?
  • What evidence would confirm or rule this out?
  • What if the obvious cause is wrong?
  • What ELSE could produce this result?
  • Is this the real problem, or a symptom?
  • Whose problem is this really?

Abstraction Levels

Every problem exists at a level. Move up to see patterns. Move down to get concrete. Find the level where action becomes clear.

Where Are You?

  • What am I trying to do RIGHT NOW?
  • I am trying to understand ________________?
  • I have too many details and I can't see how they connect?
  • I have a general sense but nothing concrete or testable?
  • I can describe it, but something feels off or incomplete?
  • I don't even know where to start?

Move Up (Abstract)

  • What is this an example OF?
  • What KIND of thing is this?
  • Who else has dealt with this kind of thing?
  • What happened in that example?
  • Does my situation resemble that example?

Move Down (Concrete)

  • What would I expect to SEE if this were true?
  • Can I check this right now?
  • What if the opposite were true?
  • What would someone who disagrees with me say?
  • What am I NOT looking at?

Decision at Altitude

  • I need to decide ________________?
  • Who is affected by this decision?
  • How long will this decision matter?
  • What breaks if I get this wrong?
  • What larger goal does this decision serve?
  • Does knowing this larger goal change which option I should pick?
  • What specific, concrete thing will happen first if I choose Option A vs. Option B?
  • Does seeing these concrete consequences change my preference?
  • What would I see in 1 year / 5 years if this decision turns out to be wrong?

Action at Altitude

  • I need to ________________?
  • Can you do it right now, in the next 5 minutes?
  • It's too big / I don't know where to start?
  • I don't know HOW to do it?
  • I'm blocked by something outside my control?
  • I'm not sure this is the RIGHT thing to do?
  • What is the FIRST thing that needs to happen?
  • Can I do THAT in the next 5 minutes?

Explanation at Altitude

  • I am explaining this to ________________?
  • How much does my audience already know about this topic?
  • If I were my audience, would I know what to DO with this information?
  • What is the purpose of this thing?
  • What are its major parts?
  • How do the parts relate to each other?

Hypothesis Testing & Root Cause Analysis

Hypothesis Formulation

  • What exactly is being asserted?
  • What claim type is this?
  • Under what conditions does the claim hold?
  • What are the boundary conditions?
  • What alternative explanations exist?
  • What would be true if this claim is false?
  • Are there multiple competing hypotheses?

Hypothesis Testing

  • If [condition], then [prediction]?
  • What would you expect to see?
  • How much/how large?
  • Under what circumstances?
  • What evidence would falsify H1?
  • What results would support H0?
  • Are these hypotheses specific, falsifiable, grounded, and predictive?

Prior Assessment

  • How often are similar claims true?
  • What is the prior success rate in this field?
  • Is there a plausible mechanism?
  • Does it fit with established theory?
  • What previous studies suggest?
  • What is the consensus view?

Result Evaluation

  • Did the methodology match the plan?
  • Were there unexpected issues?
  • How many researcher degrees of freedom?
  • Are alternative explanations ruled out?
  • Were controls adequate?
  • Does this generalize?

Root Cause: The Why Chain

  • Why did this happen?
  • Why did [answer] happen?
  • Would fixing this prevent recurrence?
  • Is this structural, not personal?
  • Can we actually change this?
  • If we fix this, does the problem stop recurring?
  • Is there a deeper "why" that matters?

Root Cause: Process Check

  • Is the process being followed?
  • Are there missing steps?
  • Is the sequence correct?
  • Is equipment functioning correctly?
  • Are inputs correct and complete?
  • Is data quality sufficient?
  • Is training adequate?
  • Is communication effective?

Root Cause: Verification

  • What changed before the problem appeared?
  • What has been tried already?
  • What makes it better or worse?
  • Are multiple root causes related?
  • Is there a systemic issue underlying multiple causes?
  • If we fix the identified root causes, will the problem be solved?
  • How will we know the fix worked?
  • What metrics will we monitor?

Strategy, SWOT & Iteration

Strategy: Goal & Constraints

  • What is the core outcome required?
  • What are the success criteria?
  • What is the timeline?
  • What are hard constraints (cannot be violated)?
  • What are soft constraints (prefer to satisfy)?
  • What dependencies exist?

Strategy: Precedents

  • Has this goal been achieved before?
  • By whom? When? In what context?
  • What strategy did they use?
  • What worked well?
  • What failed?
  • What would they do differently?

Strategy: Cross-Domain

  • If this were a military problem, what would it be?
  • If this were a biological system, what would it be?
  • If this were a business problem, what would it be?
  • What strategies work in those domains?
  • How can we translate them?
  • Is this a "build vs buy" problem?
  • Is this a "growth vs optimization" problem?

SWOT Analysis

  • What do we do well?
  • What unique resources do we have?
  • What could we improve?
  • Where do we lack resources?
  • What trends could benefit us?
  • What gaps exist in the market?
  • What obstacles do we face?
  • What changes could hurt us?
  • What could make us obsolete?

Iteration: What to Iterate On

  • Are these the right ideas? Any wrong? Missing? Redundant?
  • Is the analysis rigorous? Deep enough? Tested enough?
  • Is it said clearly? Concisely? Precisely?
  • Is it organized well? Right sections? Right order?
  • Is it the right size? Too broad? Too narrow?
  • Is anything missing? Any gaps? Any uncovered cases?
  • Is anything wrong? Errors? Inconsistencies?
  • Does it fit with the rest of the system?

Iteration: Meta-Check

  • Are we working on the right thing?
  • Is this the right approach?
  • Are any categories consistently producing insights?
  • Are any categories consistently empty?
  • Did any iteration introduce new problems?
  • Is another round of iteration needed?
  • Would someone from a different domain spot something you missed?

Proactive Question Rotation & Question Generation

Weekly self-review questions and techniques for generating the right questions for any situation.

Weekly Review Questions

  • What has changed in my environment since last review?
  • Are my current goals still the right goals?
  • Is my current approach working? What's the evidence?
  • Am I spending time on what I say matters most?
  • What am I avoiding that I know I should do?
  • Am I asking the right questions? What am I not asking?
  • What threats or opportunities am I not seeing?
  • Which goal, if achieved, would make the others easier?

Strategic Self-Review

  • What would I do differently if I started over today?
  • Where am I compromising my values? Is it justified?
  • What's the highest-leverage action I could take this week?
  • What assumptions am I making that I haven't tested?
  • What do others see about my situation that I don't?
  • What goal have I been pursuing out of inertia rather than conviction?
  • What resources am I underutilizing?
  • If I could only keep 3 commitments, which would they be?

Long-Term Check

  • What would I regret NOT doing if I looked back in 5 years?
  • What's one thing I could stop doing to free up capacity?
  • How has my thinking changed in the last 6 months? What caused the change?
  • Where am I over-investing for diminishing returns?
  • What feedback have I been ignoring or dismissing?
  • What's working well that I should protect and not accidentally break?

QG: Clarification Questions

  • What counts as [term]? What doesn't?
  • Can you give me an example of [term] and a counter-example?
  • Where is the line between [A] and [B]?
  • Does this apply to [edge case]?
  • Is [X] in scope or out of scope?
  • What's the boundary of this?

QG: Causal & Value Questions

  • What causes [outcome]?
  • If we changed [X], what would happen to [Y]?
  • What's different between cases where [outcome] and cases where not?
  • If you had to choose between [A] and [B], which?
  • How important is [X] relative to [Y]?
  • What would you give up to get [Z]?

QG: Threshold & Boundary

  • What would happen if [condition]?
  • Under what conditions would [outcome] occur?
  • If [X] changed, would you still want [Y]?
  • How much [X] is too much/too little?
  • At what point would you [action]?
  • What's the minimum acceptable level of [quality]?
  • If you could only have one, which?
  • What would you cut first if you had to?

Goal Understanding & Problem Identification

Goal Classification

  • What complexity level is this?
  • Is this complexity SIMPLE, COMPOUND, or AMBIGUOUS?
  • What aspect of your life feels like it needs change?
  • What would "better" look like?
  • If I understood this, what would I DO differently?
  • Is this curiosity or avoidance?

Goal Interrogation

  • Are there alternatives to [X]?
  • Has the problem-giver already decided the answer?
  • What is my actual role here?
  • This is successful when _________?
  • What would success look like, concretely?

Problem: Is This the Right One?

  • Is this the RIGHT problem? (not the obvious one)
  • At the RIGHT level? (not too surface, not too abstract)
  • At the RIGHT time? (now vs later vs never)
  • In the RIGHT order? (dependencies, prerequisites)
  • With RIGHT prioritization? (effort/impact)

Problem Classification

  • Is this Clarification or Substitution?
  • What is this an example OF?
  • Is this ACTUAL (happening now)?
  • Or ANTICIPATED (will happen if...)?
  • Or IMAGINED (might maybe happen)?

Problem Timing

  • Should we solve now, later, or never?
  • What's the cost of waiting?
  • Are we ready to solve it?
  • What must be solved first?
  • What does solving this unlock?
  • Are there dependencies?

Assumption Testing

  • Which assumption is LEAST certain?
  • Is [least certain assumption] actually true?
  • How would I find out quickly?
  • What would I need to check to find out?
  • I understand [X] but I don't understand [Y]. What connects X to Y?

Assumptions, Dimensions & Decisions

Assumption Extraction

  • What must cause what for this to work?
  • What must exist that isn't proven?
  • What must stay the same?
  • What must we be able to reach/use?
  • What must someone be able to do?
  • What must be considered good/desirable?
  • What must someone know?
  • What resources must be available?
  • What must we be allowed to do?
  • What timing must be correct?

Assumption Inversion

  • What if NOT X?
  • What if the opposite?
  • What if X didn't exist?
  • What if X were infinite?
  • What if X were zero?
  • What if different timing?
  • What if different actor?
  • What would be different?
  • Who would benefit?
  • Is there evidence this is already partially true?

Dimension Discovery

  • What makes these different?
  • For each: Does this dimension create meaningful variation?
  • Can [Dimension A] vary while [Dimension B] stays constant?
  • Any example that doesn't fit?

Decision Procedure

  • What factors determine the right choice?
  • What information do you need before deciding?
  • What constraints narrow the options?
  • What are the axes of variation?
  • What states can each dimension be in?
  • What are the common cases vs edge cases?

Decision Hidden Assumptions

  • What do experts know implicitly that novices miss?
  • What assumptions could lead someone to the wrong answer?
  • Where do people commonly go wrong?
  • Which seems best, at first glance? Why?
  • What must this accomplish?

MECE & Decomposition

  • Does it fit in multiple categories?
  • What could be on this list but isn't?
  • Is goal too big to tackle at once?
  • Are there clearly distinct components?
  • Would parallel work be beneficial?

Cost-Benefit Analysis

  • What specific decision are we evaluating?
  • What are we trying to achieve?
  • Who is the decision for?
  • Which assumptions have the most impact?
  • What revenue level breaks even?
  • What would we pay to have this benefit?
  • What would we pay to avoid this risk?

Ethics, Tensions & Debate

Tension Identification

  • What two (or more) values, goals, or priorities are in conflict?
  • Is this a genuine conflict or a false dilemma?
  • What makes this tension feel unresolvable?
  • Who are the stakeholders on each side?
  • Is there a third option that avoids the tradeoff?
  • Can you reframe the problem to dissolve the tension?
  • Would someone from a different context see this as a tension at all?

Moral Dilemma Resolution

  • Are the values genuinely in conflict, or is one a disguised preference?
  • Which option produces the best overall outcome?
  • Which option respects duties and rights regardless of outcome?
  • What would a person of strong character do here?
  • Which option best preserves relationships and responds to vulnerability?
  • Which option could everyone affected reasonably accept?

Ethical Dilemma Follow-Up

  • Where do the ethical frameworks agree?
  • Which side has the stronger case?
  • What evidence would change this assessment?
  • What signals would indicate you chose wrong?
  • What can you do for those harmed by the decision?
  • What principle does this case establish for future dilemmas?

Ethical Code Stress Test

  • Who gets hurt when this goes wrong?
  • What does the failure mode look like?
  • Can someone new understand it in under 5 minutes?
  • Does it handle the hardest case in this domain?
  • Is there an escape hatch for genuinely unprecedented situations?
  • Does it protect the least powerful person in the system?
  • Would you follow it yourself?

Debate Structure

  • Is there a position that captures the best of both sides?
  • Does the argument include evidence, not just assertions?
  • Does it anticipate objections and address them?

ARAW & UAUA

  • What states could this be in?
  • What is this an instance of?
  • What parameters could vary?
  • Whose view is this?
  • Am I looking for the right answer, or am I looking for reasons that THIS is the right answer?
  • When did I first form this opinion?
  • If I am wrong, what am I protecting by not seeing it?

UAUA: Universalize

  • What does good look like in this domain?
  • What do they share? What do they differ on?
  • What's true short-term? What changes medium-term? Long-term?
  • What's true at individual level? Team level? Organization level?
  • Did testing reveal genuinely new candidates?
  • What boundaries does the candidate break at?
  • Who disagrees and why?
  • Where does this only work in specific context?