5. Create your own analog bases

From time to time, during the course of your career, you'll come across different types of behavior that are comparable in a number of ways. Sometimes it's a good idea to keep the "guiding idea" for later use.

Example: you need to size storage facilities to supply paint finishes for objects. You used to have a choice of 5 shades. Now, for example, you'll have to manage 9. You're wondering how to size your stocks to meet your needs as closely as possible. Given that your overall storage capacity must not exceed 10,000 liters, how are you going to distribute it? Of course, no one wants to commit to giving you the breakdown you'll get!

The worst answer would be to plan them identically, so that you're almost certain to get it right in less than 30% of cases.

On the other hand, if you look at the distribution of the...