Feeling of 'thorough consideration' is a warning signal…
When you feel you have 'thoroughly considered' a decision, treat that feeling as a warning signal requiring additional externalized inventory, because WYSIATI (What You See Is All There Is) creates confidence from narrative coherence rather than completeness.
When This Fires
- You feel confident about a decision and ready to commit
- A complex decision resolved itself surprisingly quickly or easily
- You can explain your reasoning clearly and it "just makes sense"
- Any high-stakes decision where the feeling of completion arrives before you've done exhaustive analysis
Common Failure Mode
Using the feeling of thoroughness as permission to skip further analysis. "I've thought about this from every angle" is almost always false — it means you've thought about it from every angle that your current context and mental state make accessible, which is a subset of all relevant angles. The feeling is compelling precisely because you can't feel what you haven't considered.
The Protocol
When the feeling of "thoroughly considered" arrives before a consequential decision: (1) Recognize it as a WYSIATI signal, not a completeness signal. (2) Conduct an externalized inventory: write down everything you've considered. (3) Run an absence audit: what perspectives haven't been consulted? What scenarios haven't been modeled? What stakeholders haven't been heard? (4) Ask one person with a different context or role: "What am I probably not seeing?" (5) Only after the external check confirms completeness should you treat the feeling as justified.