Train situational perception

Before deciding, spend sixty seconds naming what kind of situation this actually is.

Why it works

Phronesis begins with perception: the wise person first sees the morally and practically salient features of a situation that others miss. This is trainable — expert practitioners in many domains show faster, more accurate situational framing, which constrains the solution space before deliberation begins. The pause to perceive prevents the most common failure mode: solving the wrong problem quickly.

How to do it

1. When facing a consequential choice, pause and ask: "What kind of situation is this — a coordination problem, a values conflict, a knowledge gap, a relationship moment?"
2. Name the stakeholders and what each one actually needs, not just what they are asking for.
3. Identify one feature of this situation that makes it unlike the last superficially similar one.
4. Only then move to options.

Evidence

Expert-novice research across domains (chess, medicine, firefighting) consistently shows experts perceive situational structure more rapidly and accurately — the perceptual component of practical wisdom is real and trainable. (observational)

Most expert-perception research is domain-specific; generalization to everyday practical wisdom is a mechanistic extrapolation, not a direct trial.

Common mistake

Jumping straight to "what should I do?" without first establishing "what is this?" — which means optimizing confidently for the wrong thing.