Let the Unanswered Question Guide the Next Piece of Work
When a project could go in many directions, freedom can feel strangely unhelpful. We can list possible next steps and still have no reason to choose one over another.
An unanswered question can provide direction. What do the people this work serves still struggle to do? Which assumption has not survived contact with practice? What would we need to learn before making the next promise? These questions point to work that is presently missing.
The question does not answer itself. We have to ask others, examine evidence, try something, and notice what changes. An attractive question can still be poorly framed or irrelevant to the people affected. Letting it guide us includes being willing to revise it.
A finished answer closes one task. A well held unanswered question can open the next. It gives our effort a direction without pretending we already know the destination.