“Planning a big project is like eating a big cheese,” the project manager told me. “I can start by cutting the whole cheese into a large number of cubes, which I eat one by one. Alternatively, I can cut a thin slice and defer any further decisions until after I have tasted it. In that dichotomy, I choose the slicing technique seven days a week.”

Two options are presented as an either/or choice, but beware — it may be a delusion to assume that one of them must be true...