Whenever a plan is proposed by management or a team member, we are eager to immediately dive in and hash out each of the points. We will have a lot of questions to ask and trade-offs to debate.

However, I have found that the first priority should be to take a step back, see the bigger picture and question the roots – premise, purpose, assumptions.

Identify the step zero. It will have the biggest impact on which direction the plan takes and where it leads us.