Known unknown matrix ⿻

"I never knew something like this existed and needed to be considered."

Have you ever felt like this?

In one of our recent projects, we didn't know that there was an existing external advisor to the client who had to be consulted for the scope of the project. We could sense the client's hesitation to finalise the project when we asked,

'Is there someone else whose opinion is important at this stage?'

We were taken aback by the emergence of this 'existing advisor', who would have a say on the project outcomes and scope! 

Thus started the journey to navigate the unpredicted, unchartered territory to work with this person without losing our autonomy.

To estimate situations like these, we use the Known Unknown framework. 

It is a simple framework which helps us to:
1] Work with the Known Known
2] Pursue the Known Unknown
3] Use existing models to identify the Unknown Known

The most challenging part of the framework is working with the Unknown unknown.

As mentioned in the case let above, the way to work with the unknown is to ask questions, take risks and challenge the boundaries!

How do you work with your knowns and unknowns? Do share with us!