If ever there was a single term that, for me anyway, captures why this thread is so important, it is dead reckoning. Read the definition (especially the last paragraph of the definition), and I hope you will realize two things. First, it is essential for any professional, and second, it is not taught anywhere because it is a doing skill, not a knowing skill.

Whether you agree or disagree, I would love to hear your comments.

dead reckoning:

Navigating by

• first, creating a vector based on understanding of current and destination location, and

• then making a series of short term decisions based on reconciling the vector against real options available on a map.

It is often contrasted by navigating based on milestones.

The term comes from aviation, animal research and orienteering. But it also describes what all professionals do all of the time. In most professionals' cases, the map is conceptual, the destination is a goal (the creation of a product, the closing of a sale, the solving of a complex problem) and the options and barriers are procedural not physical, but the model, much more adaptive and dynamic that the milestone approach, is almost exactly the same.