Tool

The problem is an area: cases by minutes

A problem is an area: how many cases by how long each one takes. Move both sides and say of each whether you have it measured or are estimating it. The side that is not measured is drawn dotted, which is the honest way to show a number that does not exist yet.

The problem is an area: cases by minutes

cases a month, measured →↑ minutes a case, estimated72 h/monthwhat you do not know reaches here122 h/month24018

What you said: 72 hours a month, USD 1,008 a month, USD 12,096 a year.

With one side unmeasured, the problem sits between 42 and 122 hours a month. End to end that is 2.9 times over, and you do not know where in the range you are standing.

That is not a small problem or a large one: it is an unsized problem. Measuring the missing side costs a week of writing things down and is worth more than any proposal you ask for now.

The amber dashed axis is the side you marked as an estimate. Tap that control's button and watch the dashed rectangle shrink until it disappears.

Both sides are yours. The unmeasured range assumes an estimated number can be 70% above or below, which is what shows up when somebody finally counts.

This object is the interactive half of an article: The goal is perfectly clear and the process does not exist: how to spot it before the meeting

The playbook already exists. We multiply it.