[waprin]

I really enjoy the concept of unknown knowns, but I don’t agree with your example, which is an unknown unknown.

To me the corporate version of the unknown known is when a a project is certainly doomed, for reasons everyone on the ground knows about, yet nobody wants to say anything and be the messenger that inevitably gets killed, as long as paycheck keeps clearing. An exec ten thousand feet from the ground sets a “vision” which can’t be blown off course by minor details such as reality, until the day it does.

Theranos is a famous example of this but I’ve had less extreme versions happen to me many times throughout my career.

Another example of unknown knowns might be the conflict between companies stated values (Focus on the User) and the unstated values that are often much more important (Make Lots of Money)

[roughly]

Yeah, you’re right. I was reaching for an example, but yours are much better and better capture the idea.

[cozzyd]

In the case of the Iraq war, the unknown knowns were probably key...