The Heilmeier Catechism for Evaluating Ideas
Before investing significant effort in any project or proposal, subject it to a set of brutally direct questions that expose whether the idea is sound and worth pursuing.
"What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon."
The Heilmeier Catechism is a set of questions developed by George Heilmeier, former DARPA director, as a filter for evaluating research proposals. The questions are deceptively simple: What are you trying to do? How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice? What is new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful? Who cares? What are the risks? How much will it cost? How long will it take? What are the mid-term and final "exams" to check for success?
The power of the catechism lies in its refusal to let you hide behind complexity. The first question "articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon" is the hardest. Most proposals collapse here because jargon masks muddled thinking. Marc Brooker's advice on getting big things done echoes this: write a succinct description of the problem and what it means for the problem to be solved, because the exercise of writing exposes flaws in reasoning that thinking alone does not. Almost every time, writing forces you to confront whether you are solving the right problem or merely applying an elegant solution to the wrong one.
The "Who cares?" question is equally devastating. Many technically brilliant projects fail not because the solution is wrong but because the problem does not matter enough to enough people. Will Larson's SCQA format (Situation, Complication, Question, Answer) for presenting to executives serves the same function: forcing clarity about why the current situation is problematic before proposing any solution.
Takeaway: Run every major initiative through the Heilmeier Catechism if you cannot answer "What are you trying to do?" in plain language, you are not ready to start.
See also: Writing Is Thinking Made Visible | Leading Indicators Beat Lagging Ones | Skin In The Game Aligns Incentives