The effort invested in ‘getting it right’ should be commensurate with the importance of the decision – Daniel Kahneman

Accuracy is the absence of error; precision is the level of detail. Often in infrastructure planning and analysis we see an unnecessary need for precision in the early stages with not much emphasis on accuracy.

Effective problem solving requires always being accurate but only being as precise as is helpful at any given stage of problem solving. This is about delivering analysis that is sufficient to proceed to the next stage in developing an infrastructure project. Many project approval gateway processes recognize this, but it is often poorly implemented.

Early in the problem solving process, accurate but imprecise methods, rather than very exact methods, will allow consideration of all reasonable approaches and minimize the tracking of needlessly detailed data. In this way, less apparent but potentially higher value options and scenarios can be considered and compared with the standard approaches.