Performance Analysis · The question · Component
The decision
What will be decided on the basis of the answer — because analysis with no decision attached is exploration.
The deliverable
What it is
Naming the decision first constrains everything downstream: which question to ask, how precise the answer needs to be, and when it has to arrive.
Where no decision can be named, the work is exploration. That is legitimate and cheap to label, and labelling it prevents it being presented as decision support.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The deadline
When the decision has to be taken.
3 attributes: Decision date · Time available · Constrains method
LearnThe exploration flag
Whether this is exploration rather than decision support.
3 attributes: Type · Reason · Expected output
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Exploration is worth doing and worth labelling. Presented as decision support, it gets acted on prematurely.
The other components in the question
The changing answer
What result would change the decision, and in which direction — the sharpest scoping question available.
LearnThe precision needed
How accurate the answer has to be to be useful — because precision beyond the decision requirement is expense with no return.
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