Straw man proposal

A straw-man (or straw-dog) proposal is a brainstormed simple draft proposal intended to generate discussion of its disadvantages and to spur the generation of new and better proposals.^[1] The term is considered American business jargon,^[2] but it is also encountered in engineering office culture.

Often, a straw man document will be prepared by one or two people prior to kicking off a larger project. In this way, the team can jump start their discussions with a document that is likely to contain many, but not all, of the key aspects to be discussed. As the document is revised, it may be given other edition names such as the more solid-sounding "stone-man", "iron-man", and so on.

^ Cross, Geoffrey A. (2011). Forming the Collective Mind: A Contextual Exploration of Large-Scale Collaborative Writing in Industry. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
^ W. Davis Folsom (2005). Understanding American Business Jargon: A Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-313-33450-4.

[1] Cross, Geoffrey A. (2011). Forming the Collective Mind: A Contextual Exploration of Large-Scale Collaborative Writing in Industry. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

[Folsom2005-2] W. Davis Folsom (2005). Understanding American Business Jargon: A Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-313-33450-4.

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