A Spy's Guide to Thinking

by John Braddock

Anytime in the thinking process, you can stop. You can reverse. You can move backward. You can gather more data. Do more analysis. Reconsider the decision. Action is irreversible. Actions, no matter how small, commit us to a particular path. Acting on Option 3 means Option 2 and Option 1 just went away. Economists call this losing the “option value.” By taking one action, you lose the value of all the other options.