About this quote

Real progress often begins when you admit you don't have clear answers. That admission clears the way to try small tests, record what fails, and change your approach based on results. Be willing to be wrong fast so you can learn faster. Ask yourself which assumption you're treating as fact and then test it.

When to use it

• In an R&D sprint planning meeting after a developer insists a new feature will fix everything, the product manager says, "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"
• During a PhD group meeting when a student presents tentative results as definitive, the supervisor leans in and says, "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"
• On the track after trying an unproven pacing plan, the coach laughs and tells the runner, "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"
• At the kitchen table after testing a new budget method that didn't work, one partner shrugs and says, "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"