CIPHER: The Six-Lens Check Before You Make Your Move
🔍 What Is It? CIPHER is a six-question checklist that makes sure you understand your whole situation — competitors, industry, rules, people, money, and risks — before making a big decision. CIPHER is a tool grown-ups use to scan everything around their business before making a big move. Each letter stands for one angle: Competitors (who else is playing), Industry (where the whole field is heading), Political or Rules (what laws apply), Human factors (what people actually want), Economic conditions (what is happening with money), and Risk (what could go wrong). Together the six lenses stop you from making a plan with a blind spot. The reason it matters is that most bad decisions happen because someone looked at only one or two things and ignored the rest. A brilliant new product can still fail because a new law banned it, or because nobody could afford it that year. CIPHER is basically a memory trick that makes sure you ask all six questions, not just the ones you like. Grown-ups in business, government, and sports all fall into the same trap — they fall in love with one idea and forget the other five questions. CIPHER keeps them honest by giving every angle its own letter so nothing gets skipped. ...