The Easy Chair: Avoiding the Corrupting Lie of a Poorly Stated Problem

Abstract

In practice, words of the noted French author and social critic Georges Bernanos saying that “The worst, the most corrupting lies are problems poorly stated” mean to the working analyst that, before starting to work on an analysis structure for a problem, it is important to devote time and effort to ascertaining just what the real problem is. Some of my earliest recollections as an operations analyst emphasize this point. While often stressed by Gene Woolsey in his columns in this journal, it bears repetition whenever good illustrative examples can be found, especially in view of the current almost single-minded emphasis on modeling.