Mutually exclusive items that between them cover all possibilities. What do you call such a list? (I had the name for them in the past, but it escapes me)
This is one for example. :
What to do with stuff
DELETE
DELEGATE
DEFER
DO
Anything delegated needs a new task: follow up xxxx with a due date.
Anything deferred needs a next action
Do includes filing, storing
Later – Recalled the name: MeeCee
Tuesday, 26 May, 2009
MECE principle
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The MECE principle, pronounced MEESEE, mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive, is a grouping principle which says that data in a group should be divided into subgroups that comprehensively represent that group (no gaps) without overlapping. This is desirable for the purpose of analysis, because it avoids both the problem of double counting and the risk of overlooking information.
The MECE principle is useful in the business mapping process. If information can be arranged exhaustively and without double counting in each level of the hierarchy, the way of arrangement is ideal.
Examples of MECE categorization would include categorizing people by year of birth (assuming all years are known). A non-MECE example would be categorization by nationality, because nationalities are neither mutually exclusive (some people have dual nationality) nor collectively exhaustive (some people have none).