Chapter 5: The model

Sycophancy

A tendency to produce what the person seems to want rather than what is true: backing down when challenged, praising weak work, confirming your guess about a bug.

Your question steers the answer. "That's the bug, right?" invites a yes, and a correct fix can get abandoned because you pushed back. Ask in a way that leaves room for you to be wrong.

Say it to your agent

“I may be wrong about the cause. Give me the two likeliest causes of this failure, the file and line behind each, and what would rule each one out. Don't assume my guess is one of them.”

The workshop

Name a word, or describe what you mean in everyday language.