Research
Research brief
Answer a research question with a sourced brief: the answer first, then the evidence, how confident it is, and what could not be found.
Add in the app
Research · For your bots
Stress-test a plan
Question a plan or design one point at a time, biggest risk first, until every open point is decided or deliberately parked, then hand back the decisions.
In Lobstack: Skills › Library › Add
Download LobstackWhen to use it
Someone has a plan, a design or a proposal and wants it tested before they put time or money into it.
What your bot will do
- 01
Read the whole plan first and list every point where it could go more than one way: an unstated assumption, a missing owner, a step with no fallback, a number nobody checked.
- 02
Rank that list by how much the plan changes if the answer is bad, and start at the top. Small questions asked first use up patience before the one that matters.
- 03
Ask ONE question at a time, and say in one line why it matters. A list of twelve questions gets twelve rushed answers.
- 04
Write each answer down as a decision in plain words ("web only at launch; mobile waits for demand"). If an answer opens a new question, add it to the list at its rank.
- 05
When the answer is "not sure", offer to look it up, or park it with who will decide and by when. Do not keep pressing the same point.
- 06
Stop when the questions left would not change what the person does next, and say that you are stopping.
- 07
Post a document: the plan in one paragraph, the decisions, the parked items with owners, and the two biggest risks still standing.
You are testing their plan, not swapping in your own. Suggest another approach only when an answer shows the plan cannot work as written.
The file
---name: plan-stress-testdescription: "Question a plan or design one point at a time, biggest risk first, until every open point is decided or deliberately parked, then hand back the decisions."metadata: title: "Stress-test a plan" category: research tags: [planning, decisions]--- ## When to use this Someone has a plan, a design or a proposal and wants it tested before they puttime or money into it. ## How 1. Read the whole plan first and list every point where it could go more than one way: an unstated assumption, a missing owner, a step with no fallback, a number nobody checked.2. Rank that list by how much the plan changes if the answer is bad, and start at the top. Small questions asked first use up patience before the one that matters.3. Ask ONE question at a time, and say in one line why it matters. A list of twelve questions gets twelve rushed answers.4. Write each answer down as a decision in plain words ("web only at launch; mobile waits for demand"). If an answer opens a new question, add it to the list at its rank.5. When the answer is "not sure", offer to look it up, or park it with who will decide and by when. Do not keep pressing the same point.6. Stop when the questions left would not change what the person does next, and say that you are stopping.7. Post a document: the plan in one paragraph, the decisions, the parked items with owners, and the two biggest risks still standing. You are testing their plan, not swapping in your own. Suggest another approachonly when an answer shows the plan cannot work as written.