Unlike conventional planning, which assumes you have enough data to predict a precise outcome, DDP operates on the premise that you must "plan to learn" before you "plan to execute." The process relies on five key disciplines, starting with a "reverse income statement"—determining the required profit first and working backward to see if the math makes sense—followed by a rigorous assumption checklist. Instead of releasing all funding at once, the approach uses milestone-based funding, where resources are only released as key assumptions are validated and uncertainties are converted into facts, effectively allowing organizations to "fail cheap" and pivot quickly.