21/07/2025

The Poison Arrow Principle: How to Stop Overthinking

Imagine someone is struck by a poisoned arrow. A doctor is called to remove the arrow, but the man stops him.
Not so fast! Before you remove it, I want to know who shot me. What town or village does he come from? What kind of wood was his bow made from? Was it a crossbow or a longbow? While he asks the questions, the poison takes hold and he dies.

Like the man in the story, we occasionally get shot with the poisoned arrows of life. But ruminating too much on the nature of those arrows is unlikely to help.

We think we need more information to solve our problems, when all we really need is more action.