1.3
Find the Boundaries of “Workable
Approaches” That Could Fit the Job
Approximating
project size, difficulty, ingredients,
opportunities, and obstacles
“It
requires a very unusual mind to
undertake the analysis
of
the obvious.”—Alfred North Whitehead
“When
searching for the truth be ready for the
unexpected, for it is
difficult to find and puzzling when you
find it. ”—Herakleitos
Finding
the Probable Workable Approach
A
“workable approach” is one that can
and probably will achieve the workable
purpose with the grade of materials,
cost, and time required. Determining the
“workable approach” to a job is
similar to getting the right tool for a
task. However, it is quite different in
timing and impact. If the wrong tool is
selected, the right tool can be quickly
substituted, and the consequences will
probably be minor. If the wrong project approach
is selected, the error will be noticed
at the middle or end of the project,
when partial or total failure is
admitted. “I can do anything, just let
me get started,” or “Do it like we
did last time” will frequently end
in delay, cost overruns, or failure.
Determining
a workable approach is 95% hard
work—counting, measuring, checking,
and organizing. But, you must know the
approximate size, scope, look, and feel
of the project before you can
approximate an
approach and know what to count and
measure.
Creating
such an approach is a five-step process:
1.
Evaluate
the project to find the probable range
of workable
approaches.
2.
Evaluate
the ingredients for problems and
opportunities.
3.
Count
and measure everything, and place in an
organized format.
4.
Develop
a workable approach using this
information.
5.
Check each ingredient for the particular
project.
Steps
one and two are discussed below.
