Advocacy before Facts.

Sound judgment requires gathering the facts - and only the facts - before interpretation or advocacy. Facts are colored by everyone who gathers and relays them; by the time a case is being argued, the picture can bear little relation to where it began.

Establishing an accurate 'what' is one discipline; giving it meaning, weighing options, and setting probabilities is a separate one. Keep them apart - pull the picture out of the fog and let it resolve before anyone is allowed to color it.