About facts

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My favorite expression about facts and estimates--given to me by Dr. David Hulett who was the PMI chair for PMP Chapter 11--is this one:

There are no facts about the future

Now, I see this one posted at Critical Uncertainties, attributed to Friedrich Nietzcshe:

There are no facts, only interpretations 

And, so what do we make of this?
It's all about bias -- we all have a biases, and thus can we ever say anything with true objectivity?

Well, yes, of course, there are immutable international standards for measurements; and measurements certainly make up a lot of "facts", though even here we find arguments about angels on the head of a pin (See Einstein, and the theories of relativity that demonstrate the flexibility of time and space)

And, of course, just put a measuring probe on some things changes them so much that we can't objectively measure them.

And then there is quantum physics with those theories of non-deterministic location; and entanglements that seem provide connectivity where there is none.

Should I go on?

Probably Nietzcshe had it right.

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System Engineering for PM's

If you are managing a technology project and need to understand a bit about what the system engineers will be doing on your project, a read of the eight pages of Chapter 1 of "Systems Engineering Fundamentals" from the Defense Acquistion University is a good place to start.  If you want to go further, dive into Chapter 3.

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