Challenge Operation

Apply de Bono's Challenge technique: non-threatening questioning of why things are done the way they are. Not criticism — genuine curiosity about whether current approaches are the only way.

State Ledger

Resource	Target	Current	%
web-search	20	0	0%
web-research	8	0	0%
paper-overview	20	0	0%
paper-search	12	0	0%
paper-research	5	0	0%

HARD-GATE

Cannot exit strategy until ≥80% of each budget line is consumed OR yield targets are met with justification for remaining budget.

Available Tactics

Tactic	Role
concept-hierarchy	Organize challenged practices into concept levels

Available SOPs

SOP	Role
challenge-questioning	Apply non-threatening 'Why?' to current practices
escape-technique	Escape from dominant patterns revealed by challenge
alternatives-generation	Generate alternatives to challenged practices
lateral-synthesis	Synthesize challenge operation outputs

Execution Guidance

1. List practices: Identify current practices, methods, and assumptions
2. Challenge each: Apply challenge-questioning SOP — "Why is it done this way?"
3. Distinguish: Separate necessary constraints from historical accidents
4. Escape: For historical accidents, use escape-technique to find alternatives
5. Generate alternatives: Produce concrete alternatives to challenged practices
6. Synthesize: Produce structured output via lateral-synthesis

Available Tactics

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

Tactic	When to use
concept-hierarchy	Build concept levels from purpose through concepts to ideas, with escape and fractionation at each level.

Available SOPs

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

SOP	When to use
alternatives-generation	Generate alternatives for every known approach — ensure no approach goes unchallenged.
challenge-questioning	Non-threatening 'Why?' questioning of current practices to reveal historical accidents vs. genuine constraints.
escape-technique	Identify dominant thinking pattern and escape it via deliberate pattern-breaking.
lateral-synthesis	Synthesize all lateral thinking intermediate outputs into a structured idea report.