Practical Charity

Putting Hanlon's Razor into practice takes a few specific verbal moves. The phrase that does the most work is "I am sure there is a good reason, but..." — it opens a question without accusation.

"I am sure there is a good reason, but I was not cc'd on that decision — was that intentional?" is nearly always answered with "Oh, I meant to loop you in, sorry about that." Framed instead as "Why was I excluded?", the same situation produces defensiveness and often a real fight over what began as an oversight. The words at the front of a question shape the answer that comes back.