Chapters · 4 of 8

About 16 min · Lesson and activity

Chapter 4 of 80 complete

Handle Missing and Conflicting Evidence

Stop absence being read as a bad signal, and decide which source wins when two disagree.

See the situation

Start with the situation below. Next, we will work through an example together before you try the activity.

Maya · Decision designer

The case

Deal scored 8, call held yesterday

Missing, conflicting, zero, and failed are different states. Define what each input absence means before calculating.

Engagement score: 8 (danger zone)
Last meeting date field: Never stamped
Actual last meeting: Yesterday, went well
Why: The call was not logged the way the calculation expects
What the score answered: A question about its inputs, not the deal

Your task

Classify each input, then choose whether the decision has enough evidence to proceed.

Need a little guidance?

You’re done when: The system does not turn missing or conflicting evidence into a low score.

Absence and contradiction carry different business meanings.

Need a reminder? Reopen the worked example

Watch one example first

A connected calendar with zero meetings is an observed zero. A calendar that was never connected is missing evidence. A calendar and CRM reporting different dates create a conflict.

Why this follows from the evidence

Arithmetic cannot repair these differences. A missing input needs a source; a conflict needs an authority or review policy. Replacing either with zero hides the problem.

GTM Lab

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Decision workbench

Inspect what the input actually says

Your task: Route an observed zero, an unavailable source, and conflicting timestamps separately. Keep the source facts visible.

Evidence packet · activity dataCompare each statement with its source. The labels show the state of this example.

Observed meeting count

0 meetings in the connected calendar for this window. Current route: not selected.

Source: Connected calendar

Not checked

Activity source

Call activity was never connected. Current route: not selected.

Source: Source inventory

Not checked

Last meeting date

CRM says 45 days ago; calendar event is yesterday. Current route: not selected.

Source: CRM and calendar

Not checked

Observed meeting count · 0 meetings in the connected calendar for this window

Activity source · Call activity was never connected

Last meeting date · CRM says 45 days ago; calendar event is yesterday

Practice draft restores when you return.

Case evidence

Deal scored 8, call held yesterday

Engagement score: 8 (danger zone)
Last meeting date field: Never stamped
Actual last meeting: Yesterday, went well
Why: The call was not logged the way the calculation expects
What the score answered: A question about its inputs, not the deal

An account executive is told her deal scores 8, deep in the danger zone. She had a call with them yesterday. The system did not fail; it answered a question about its inputs.

Review or edit the saved decision-design sections

The workbench above is the main practice. These optional sections let you draft the contract directly; each section gives feedback before the chapter check.

Work the case · 0 of 3 sections drafted

Stop absence being read as a bad signal

Compare these alternatives one section at a time. Check a choice to see its consequence; the draft summary below keeps the proposed changes together.

Step 1 of 3

A required input is unavailable. What should the calculation do with the gap?

Use the default for that slot, which is zero or nullDecide per input what its absence means, and keep absent distinguishable from a low valueTreat any absence as a negative signal, since silence usually is

This is a proposed draft until the chapter check runs. Selecting a choice alone does not complete the chapter.

2b · Proposed

Decision design draft

Decision design draft · current draftCompare the original state with the proposed change. This preview does not change live records.

Decision design draft · current draft
Item	Before	Proposed	Why
A required input is unavailable. What should the calculation do with the gap?	No saved change in this exercise draft	Not drafted yet	Choose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.
Enough required evidence is missing that the answer would rest on almost nothing. What should the decision return?	No saved change in this exercise draft	Not drafted yet	Choose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.
Two sources disagree, and the conflicting field is the one the answer turns on. What should the decision do?	No saved change in this exercise draft	Not drafted yet	Choose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.

A required input is unavailable. What should the calculation do with the gap?: BeforeNo saved change in this exercise draft; ProposedNot drafted yet; WhyChoose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.
Enough required evidence is missing that the answer would rest on almost nothing. What should the decision return?: BeforeNo saved change in this exercise draft; ProposedNot drafted yet; WhyChoose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.
Two sources disagree, and the conflicting field is the one the answer turns on. What should the decision do?: BeforeNo saved change in this exercise draft; ProposedNot drafted yet; WhyChoose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.

A choice appears here as a proposal, not as evidence that a live system changed.

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Chapter 4 of 80 complete