Scout
Small probe first; grow only if it holds.
Double it until it breaks.
Seen in Seinfeld, first season, NBC, 1989–90
Try it on your work
Make the smallest version of the thing you intend, in under a minute and with a tenth of the material. If it holds, make it twice the size. Repeat. Stop when it stops holding or when it fills the space; the last size that held is your scale.
State the project in one sentence to one person. If they ask a second question, tell it in a paragraph to three. If two of them ask more, write the page. Stop at the first level where nobody asks.
Before committing the week, spend one hour on the riskiest step and nothing else. If the hour produces a result you can show, give it a day. If the day holds, give it the week. Stop at the first stage that produces nothing showable.
How it has been used
When honeybees need a new home, only a small minority scout possible nest sites. Scouts that find promising cavities return and recruit others through waggle dances; support builds around better sites until the swarm can commit. The colony does not send everyone exploring at once, and it does not scale an option before evidence arrives.
Where it leads
Grouped under Let me find out what holds up