“Simple Problem Solving”

Planning for the future topic continues…

We’ve had several opportunities in the last couple of weeks to sit together as a family and exercise our planning muscles.  Here is a shortened list of topics:

• College Admission
• College Budgeting
• Vocation
• College Transportation
• Summer Volunteering
• Summer Travel
• Graduation Party

For a little bit of context, my professional background is program management.  I am the planning pro.  I’ve used several very logical planning methods.  I have a professional certificate and a master’s degree in this discipline.  All of these credentials have NO applicability to planning with a teenager.  Don’t believe me?

I like to start out with a simple problem solving model [because everything we try to plan with a teenager is a huge life or death problem].

1. Identify the problem or goal
2. Develop alternatives to solve the problem or achieve your goal
3. Analyze the alternatives
4. Select the best alternative
5. Plan action steps for the best alternative
6. Execute the steps
7. Evaluate the results.

Straight forward and simple, right.  Let’s get started.

1. Identify the problem or goal for your future vocation:

Ok, I don’t have a problem, but, well, it’s like, you know, the time when the Nazis invaded Poland and…

Wait.  Wait. Wait.  I thought we were trying to plan your future vocation?

What?  You asked me if I had a problem.

No, I didn’t.  I asked you to define your future work goal.

Oh.  Well, my mind likes to look at the big picture and there are a lot of messed up leaders in the world.  Do you think anybody ever considers the motivations of a dictator?  Did you hear about the mess in North Korea?

What does North Korea have to do with your future work?

Maybe I should consider going to school in Wisconsin.

Stop, stop, stop.  I am lost here.  I need you to give me a list of jobs you might be interested in.

I really should look into scholarships so I don’t have to spend my own college money when I get my degree in International Relations and work for the UN as a Diplomat.

Hey.  Look at that.  We are on step 7.  Good job.  [“Where is the Tylenol?” (Clark Griswold)]

And so goes nearly every simple problem solving activity.

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”

- What is your plan? -

"Burning Other People’s Opportunity Cost"

Part of effective planning includes counting the costs.  This is not only logical, it is biblical.  Jesus tells us in Luke 14:28-30

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?  For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’”

Admittedly this was a parable intended to explain the cost of being a Christ follower, but, if you will allow, I think it also fits with the more general point about counting costs in our planning process. It can also be applied to the less obvious cost consideration, opportunity cost.

Counting the opportunity cost does not only include the spender’s opportunity cost.  It also includes the opportunity cost of others since most of our plans include other people.  They also have an opportunity cost in this equation; specifically an opportunity cost in terms of time.

Sorry.  That was a lot of context to set up my point.  

Have you ever considered the amount of other people’s opportunity cost (OPOC) you burn through the execution of  your plans?  Maybe you’ve had your opportunity cost burned within someone else's plan.  I know some “talented planners” (TP) who can burn tons of OPOC.  

TP - “Will you help me with my assignment?”

Me - “Sure, when do you want to start?”

TP - “In a minute.  Let me close out of this other work first.”

Me - “Ok.  I won’t start my taxes right now so I can help you.”

-25 minutes later -

Me - “Thought you needed help with your assignment?”

TP - “Oh...Yeah.  Let me close out of this other work first”

Me - “Breakfast will be ready in 15 minutes.”

TP - “I will be right down.”

- 30 minutes later, with reheated food -

TP - “I have to go to the bathroom first”

Me - “We need to run to the store, do you want to come with?”

TP - “Sure, let me finish this game first.”

- 20 minutes later -

Me - “I going to wait in the car.”

Smell that?  It’s burning OPOC.

- What is Your Plan? -

My “Perfect” Plan

Have you ever had a plan so tightly wrapped that you felt like success was a foregone conclusion?  I mean you knew, with 100% certainty, that everything would execute exactly according to the plan.  There were no holes in the plan and no room for deviations.  A perfect plan… the ever-illusive utopia.

Several years ago, my wife and I were set to embark on another military move.  We were moving from Fort Rucker, AL, and heading to Monterey, CA, for graduate school.  [I know, tough duty]

Our “perfect” plan:

Movers head out with all of our worldly possessions on a Thursday.  We were to expect delivery no earlier than 12 days later.  No need for storage.  We were doing a door-to-door move.  Everyone said a door-to-door move was a myth; it’s impossible.  We’ll show them.  Our plan is fool-proof.

We leave Fort Rucker on Friday and head to Atlanta to send the boys back to Minnesota.  They were staying with grandparents so they wouldn’t have to make the long drive.  Hurray for grandparents!

We leave Atlanta on Monday after Mary flew back from Minneapolis, complete with dropping off the boys.  Off we go on our relaxing 2,400 mile drive to Monterey.  The “perfect” plan included driving an average of 550 for 4 days and then an easy 200 miles the last day.

Once we got to Monterey on Friday, after our easy 200 miles, we would drop the dog off at the kennel and check into the Guest House.  Making the trip with the dog in the car would add some complexity but we could handle it.  We had a “perfect” plan for that too.

We would sign for our military housing on Friday and explore the city over the weekend.  Monday would come and we would be completely ready for the delivery team; ready with donuts, pizza and a few Cokes.

Oh how I love a “perfect” plan!

What really happened:  Everything was going great right up until day 3 (Thursday) of our drive.

While at a rest stop in Arizona, we get a call from the military transportation office.  The movers, apparently, are supermen and managed to be 3 days ahead of schedule.  What moving company has ever done that!  

They were going to deliver our household goods on Friday morning, not the next Monday, like we had planned.  Ok.  Only a slight change to the plan…  Then the next bit of good news.  If we were not at our house ready for the delivery at 9:00 am, they would put our stuff in storage for 30 days.

Noooooo…. don’t you understand, we are doing a door-to-door.  We have a perfect plan.  This is not happening.

Ok.  Wait.  We can do this.  

We will skip our last overnight stop and drive straight to Monterey.  We can do the remaining 800 miles in a day.  

We don’t have a place to stay!  We will call for new hotel reservations.  The Dog!  The hotel needs to take pets.  [Not an easy  find]  We have a reservation at a hotel on the beach.  Too bad we can’t enjoy it.  [another side note..we got lost getting to the hotel.  No GPS.]

Guess we can cancel the kennel reservation. [as a side note:  Arizona and southern California rest areas don’t have any grass.  The dog won’t relieve himself unless he has grass.  We found out that he has a very large bladder capacity.]

The housing office!  They don’t open until 9:00 am!  I called them and told them our dilemma.  They agreed to meet me so I could sign for the keys early Friday morning, while my better-half waits for the truck.

WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR PERFECT AND RELAXING PLAN?  Gone.

Everything turned out ok in the end, as it almost always does, despite our melodramatic panic.  We even completed the elusive door-to-door move.

The worst part of the entire change episode was totally self-induced.  Yours truly decided it would be a good idea, and quicker, to take the scenic route (HWY 1) up the California coast to cover our last 100 miles.  The last 100 miles of a 800 mile day.  It was not quicker and not very scenic with the sun on the horizon and in your eyes for 100 miles.  Not to mention it made my better-half sick. [Never a good thing.]

When will we learn to stop chasing the “Perfect” plan.

Romans 8:28  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

- What is your plan? -

“Creatures of Habit...or Not.”

I tend to be most effective if I have a “to do” List (aka action steps in a plan).  In fact, I am often completely ineffective and get nothing done if I don’t have a detailed “List”.  A “List” works for me.  Just ask my wife.  She always has a “List” ready for me.  [I may pay for that one.]

So it only stands to reason that my sons should adopt the same technique.  My keen observation of them proves that they have the capacity to embrace the concept of a “List”.  They are extreme creatures of habit:

“I can not leave for the bus before 6:10.”

“That is my seat.”

“Egg bake is for Easter and Turkey is for Thanksgiving.  We can’t eat them on any other days.”

“I always scrub my hands for 5 minutes with the scalding hot water running.”

“First the news, then I will get ready for school.”

“I always take two bottles of Gatorade to practice.”

“I have to do my devotion prior to going to bed.” [a very good one]

To be fair, teens are not the only ones that develop nonsensical habits.  I actually observed an adult ask a Pastor and his family to move prior to worship because that was “their pew.”  Really?  Your pew?  [I do go to a Lutheran church, thanks for asking]  

Ok, back to the “List” topic.  

With so much experience with conforming to a specific set of habits, transforming these teens to get organized using a “List” should be easy.  Not so fast.

A list is restrictive, too organized, prohibitive, confining, and too structured.  We often hear:

“I know what needs to be done.”

“I will do it today.”

“I will do it tomorrow.” [it never comes, trust me]

“I will remember so I don’t need to write it down.”

I am confused.  One of them always has his headlight within arm’s reach but a “List” is too structured?

One of our sons has recently embraced the “List” idea by writing all of his assignments on a calendar.  A true epiphany.  

Hope remains!

Romans 15:13  “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

- What is your plan? -

“Secret Plans are the Best!”

Having a clear view or vision of the objective is a success key when starting a project.  If you don’t know where you are going, how do you know when you get there?

If you want a cool place to hang out in the back yard with your adult friends, obviously the objective is a tree house built for adults.  It should include a fridge, HD TV, theater seats and an Adrian Peterson Fathead.  This would be so cool. [sorry, got a little distracted]

Ok.  We have a vision.  Let’s start building.  No wait.  I think I’ve forgotten something.  Let me check with my resident teen wiseman.   

Oh discerning and insightful teen, how do you get your projects done?

“I don’t have a plan but I am going to get it done.”

So you are saying I don’t need a plan to build my tree-borne mancave.  It will just happen?  Is this the way you get your school assignments done?

“No, I mean… I don’t have a plan that I can tell you.”

Oh, I get it.  Shhhh…. it’s a secret.  Secret plans are always the best.  Especially those that are so secret that they don’t actually exist.  Kind of like the plan to get your summer reading done prior to your last first day of school. [busted]

I guess my tree-borne mancave will have to wait until I can figure out how to crack the code on these secret plans.

Thankfully, we have an eternal life plan that is very clear and not a secret at all:

1 Timothy 2:3-6  “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

-What is your plan?-

“Wake up Sleepy Teen”

This is a post about tactical planning.  Tactical, as defined by Merriam-Webster; “of or relating to small-scale actions serving a larger purpose.”  Precisely.  I planned deliberate, small-scale actions to serve the larger purpose of getting my teens out of bed!  

Let me set the stage.  Teenager is told the night before that he needs to be up at a reasonable time to get work done the next day.  So, there are a couple of problems here [see previous post on problem identification].  First, does a teen really know what “reasonable means”?  9:00 am is reasonable.  12:30 pm is NOT reasonable.  Second, in the teen’s mind, instruction the “night before” has no relevance to the next morning.

The answer: “Operation Nerf Ambush”

First step: Pre-position the Nerf weapons and darts in mom and dad’s room the night before.

Second step: Pre-combat checks-make sure all Nerf magazines are loaded.

Third step: Recon the hallway and remove any obstacles.  We are ready for execution.

At the appointed time, 9:01 am, sneak down the hallway and slide into his doorway.  Take a position with clear visibility of the teen and unleash a full barrage of Nerf darts while singing “Wake Up Sleepy Teen”.  He will wake up.  [sometimes his brother even gets to participate in the ambush]

The teen is a learning creature.  If doesn’t take him long to figure out that mom and dad aren’t kidding about employing “Operation Nerf Ambush”.  He decides to fire back with his Nerf bow and arrow. Time for a new tactical plan.  

The answer: “Operation Bulldozer”

First step: Warn the teen about “Operation Bulldozer”.  Don’t tell him what it is, just that it is coming if he doesn’t get out of bed at a reasonable time.

Second step: Recon the room to ensure floor is clear of clutter. [Right!  It is a teenager’s room.]

Third step: Mentally rehearse your movements.  Timing and speed of your movements are key on this operation.  Ready.

Again, at the appointed time, sneak down the hallway and slide into his room.  In a single swift motion, starting at one corner of the bed, grab the bottom sheet and start to pull.  As you pull, continue to roll everything on the bed, including the teen, into a giant burrito.  Continue rolling until this giant burrito and all its contents are resting on the floor.  He will wake up.  Additionally, he has a firm understanding what “Operation Bulldozer” is all about.

While these operations were executed on our oldest teen, the youngest is not exempt.  He has a very early wake up on school days, 5:30 am.  We usually allow him a little snooze time after the first alarm.  This leeway is quickly becoming a second and then a third call to get out of bed.

I think he better reverse this trend or I might just have another opportunity to plan and execute a “small-scale action”

Proverbs 20:13  “Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.”

- What is your plan? -

"The Problem Is..."

My wife (“M”) and I are the proud parents of a 17 year old young man (“S”).  He is at the age of peak wisdom.  He can immediately identify “The Problem” when things aren’t going according to his plan.

The Background:  “S” is homeschooled and is assigned his work for the week.  He is expected to be an independent worker and understands the concept of natural consequences (remember: he is at the age of peak wisdom).  If he doesn't get his work done, the work rolls over to the next week.  If this continues long enough, he won't graduate on time.  And so on...

The Dialog:

S -  “Good Morning.”

M - “It is not morning when the time is 11:50 am.  I thought you were starting your school work earlier today.  What happened?”

S- “Well, you see, from my view….”

M- “Why are you still in your pajamas?”

S- “I knew it was late so I thought…”

M- “What time did you go to bed last night?”

S- “11:00 pm, no wait 3:00 am but that is not the problem.  The problem is….”

I would submit to you that identification of “The Problem” is the first, and most important, imperative in proper planning.  In the exaggerated (this never happens) example above, our wise-beyond-his years 17 year old was on a path to identify the wrong problem.  His plan, if he got that far, would have missed the mark.  Clearly, “The Problem” for him is loving parents who hold him accountable.

In all fairness to my son, accurate problem identification is a significant issue for most people and groups.  It is nearly always listed as the first step in any problem solving model, yet it is the most frequently neglected step.  I see it every day in my professional life.  A good plan must start with properly identifying “The Problem”.

“If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.”  Albert Einstein

Proverbs 14:8  “The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.”

- What is your plan? -

"First Blog, Ever"

Let’s jump right in.  The first thing you need to understand is that planning is overrated.  Planning is for the weak, the unimaginative and those who are overly risk averse.  Understand?  What?

Do you always need a plan?  I should be able to just start working.  If I put out more energy, then I get good results.  

Not having a plan allows me to never be behind or ahead.  I will never be over budget (what is a budget anyway).  I will always achieve the expected outcome.

The expectations of others… don’t matter because I don’t have a plan for them to develop expectations.

The absence of proper planning can be seen in all areas of life: Physical, Spiritual, Financial, Family, Social, Intellectual, and Career.  I’ve convinced myself that I can fill this blog space indefinitely with examples from my own life.  

Luke 14:28-30  “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.  Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see it he has enough money to complete it?  For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ ”

Maybe we can learn something together.

Disclaimers:

1.  I am a Christ follower and I see life from a Christian world view.  

2.  I am a husband and a father of two teenage boys.  They read this blog.

3.  My wife proofreads all my posts.

4.  I will take liberty with the subject matter covered in this blog.

Thanks for joining.

-What is your plan?-

P.S.  What’s with the Blog name?  “Six Bottles to Paris” is a reminder of a very successful plan.  Two other couples joined my wife and I on a train trip to Paris.  There were 6 adults and 6 bottles of wine - a perfect plan!