01
Context
Define the subject, its boundaries, actors and useful orders of magnitude.
LES5C / The Les5C method
Five angles, not five truths
Context, evidence, uncertainty, consequences and practical bearings. A reading structure, not a machine for manufacturing certainty.
02
Consensus
Separate what is documented or well established without overstating the level of evidence.
03
Controversy
Show real disagreements, methodological limits and uncertainty without creating false balance.
04
Consequences
Explain what the topic changes in practice for people, organizations or systems.
05
Guidance
Provide bearings for action or further thought. Sometimes the right conclusion is simply: we do not know yet.
LES5C / Five angles are not five truths
The five dimensions are a reading protocol, not five boxes to fill. If the format distorts the topic, the topic leaves the format.
Start with the right question
Before looking for an answer, Les5C defines the subject, its boundaries and the terms being used. A question that is too broad often mixes several problems; one that is too narrow can hide system effects.
Grade evidence instead of flattening it
Official data, a study, technical guidance, professional consensus and opinion do not have the same status. The method shows what is documented, what is plausible and what remains open.
Show disagreement without manufacturing a duel
A controversy does not always imply two equivalent camps. Les5C describes the arguments, the quality of evidence and methodological limits, and separates uncertainty in the data from disagreement between actors.
01
Context
- Key question
- What exactly are we talking about, within what boundary, at what date and with which actors?
- Avoid
- Avoid umbrella terms, numbers without a comparison base and boundaries that shift during the analysis.
02
Consensus
- Key question
- Which claims are sufficiently documented to serve as a common point of departure?
- Avoid
- Avoid confusing repetition, popularity or apparent authority with strength of evidence.
03
Controversy
- Key question
- Where are the real disagreements, study limitations and competing hypotheses?
- Avoid
- Avoid false balance between a marginal objection and a converging body of evidence.
04
Consequences
- Key question
- Who is affected, at what scale, with what costs, benefits, risks or indirect effects?
- Avoid
- Avoid abstract impacts without a population, time horizon or order of magnitude.
05
Guidance
- Key question
- What can reasonably be done now, checked next or left undecided for the moment?
- Avoid
- Avoid turning synthesis into instruction. Sometimes the reasonable course is to wait for better evidence.