Frameworks and Complexity: Simplifying Decision-Making
Published by When Notes Fly
https://whennotesfly.com/concepts/frameworks-models/why-frameworks-simplify-complexity
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Qualified or corrected seven claims: softened 'single most important insight in 20th-century decision science' about Simon's bounded rationality to 'one of the most influential'; flagged the 11-million/40-50-bits sensory figures as rough and debated while keeping the well-established input-vs-conscious-processing gap; correctly attributed the 1/N portfolio result to DeMiguel, Garlappi, and Uppal (2009); qualified the WHO Safe Surgery Checklist 47%/36% figures as before-and-after pilot-hospital results (Haynes et al. 2009), not a universal guarantee; attributed the active-fund underperformance pattern to SPIVA-type data and softened 'fewer than 15%'; noted the Five Whys 'five' is a rule of thumb; and generalized a fabricated-looking 1994 RAND SPC study (65% defect / 40% cost figures) to the well-documented but variable SPC improvement literature.
BeforeThe article called Simon's insight the single most important in decision science, gave precise 11M/40-50 bits figures, implied the WHO checklist universally reduces death 47%, said fewer than 15% of active funds outperform over 15 years, credited Five Whys with dramatic defect-resolution gains, and cited a 1994 RAND SPC study with 65%/40% figures.
AfterQualified the superlatives and rough figures, fixed the 1/N attribution, scoped the WHO and SPC results to what the sources support, and generalized the unverifiable RAND specifics.
Why: The figures come from studies that are real but were overstated or, in the RAND case, unverifiable as cited. Corrections attribute and scope them rather than adding new sources.
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Correction 28 July 2026
Emir Baycan: Qualified or corrected seven claims: softened 'single most important insight in 20th-century decision science' about Simon's bounded rationality to 'one of the most influential'; flagged the 11-million/40-50-bits sensory figures as rough and debated while keeping the well-established input-vs-conscious-processing gap; correctly attributed the 1/N portfolio result to DeMiguel, Garlappi, and Uppal (2009); qualified the WHO Safe Surgery Checklist 47%/36% figures as before-and-after pilot-hospital results (Haynes et al. 2009), not a universal guarantee; attributed the active-fund underperformance pattern to SPIVA-type data and softened 'fewer than 15%'; noted the Five Whys 'five' is a rule of thumb; and generalized a fabricated-looking 1994 RAND SPC study (65% defect / 40% cost figures) to the well-documented but variable SPC improvement literature.
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