Coaching practices for I Keep Gathering More and More Data Without Ever Deciding What Would Settle the Question So the Research Just Sprawls on Forever and I'm Collecting Whatever Turns Up Instead of Hunting for the Specific Thing That Would Prove or Kill Each Possible Explanation

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For I Keep Gathering More and More Data Without Ever Deciding What Would Settle the Question So the Research Just Sprawls on Forever and I'm Collecting Whatever Turns Up Instead of Hunting for the Specific Thing That Would Prove or Kill Each Possible Explanation, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• I keep gathering more and more data without ever deciding what would settle the question, so the research just sprawls on forever and I’m collecting whatever turns up instead of hunting for the specific thing that would prove or kill each possible explanation.
• The first explanation that fits locks in for me and then I stop looking, reading everything afterward as proof I was right
• I keep telling myself I just need to research a little more before I decide
• My theory about why this keeps happening has grown so many moving parts that it explains every little quirk perfectly
• I lock onto the first explanation that fits and then just look for confirmation of it

Practices that may help

1. Test branches by forming specific, falsifiable hypotheses
   Turn each branch into a testable hypothesis before gathering data.
   Issue Tree Analysis
2. Systematic alternatives: generate three more explanations before deciding
   Force yourself to generate at least three alternative explanations or interpretations before committing to the first plausible one.
   Lateral Thinking, Made Practical
3. Calculate the expected value of gathering more information
   Before researching further, ask whether the additional information is actually worth the cost to obtain.
   Expected Value Thinking: Deciding Under Uncertainty
4. Trim model complexity
   Prefer the simplest model of a situation that still fits all the evidence.
   Occam’s Razor: Prefer the Simpler Explanation
5. Hold multiple maps simultaneously
   For complex situations, develop two or three competing models and check which fits better.
   The Map Is Not the Territory
6. Structure the analysis before searching for evidence
   Define what you’re looking for and what would count as evidence before starting your search.
   Confirmation Bias: Seeing What You Expect to See
7. Notice which data you selected — and which you ignored
   Your conclusions are built on a sample of the available data — ask what the sample excluded.
   The Ladder of Inference
8. Search deliberately for the black swan
   Look for the single example that would overturn your generalization.
   Falsification Thinking
9. Build a library of cases and reason from them
   Accumulate a diverse set of cases with known outcomes, and retrieve structurally similar ones when facing a new problem.
   Analogical Reasoning
10. Consider the opposite
    Actively argue the case against your first conclusion before accepting it.
    Thinking, Fast and Slow, Made Usable

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