To read the details of Stormy's Question, see the Blog HERE.  

To start at lesson 1 go HERE

Wow, I was beginning to wonder if you got lost. OK, where were we? Let's see, I have my notes here somewhere. Oh, yeah, here we go...

We last left our hero, Ted, as he leaned the ladder against the tree. He found out that he still couldn't reach the apple. He found out his plan wouldn't work. Let's pick up the story there..

Lesson 5

Plan your checks, check your plans.

So, Ted was standing at the base of the apple tree, looking at that big red apple. He had made the plan to go get the ladder. He actually got up, walked to the barn and brought the ladder to the tree. He leaned his ladder against the tree. Before he climbed the ladder though, he noticed he still wouldn't be able to reach the apple. It hung too far out on the branch. His plan was not going to work. What is poor Ted to do?

Ted had reached a critical point in getting what he wanted. He had to rethink his want. So, you know what that means.....

Yes, he had to come up with another plan. Our hero looked up the tree, and knew the ladder was tall enough. He thought if he could lean the ladder against the branch the apple hung on, he could reach it. He saw how the branch was swaying in the breeze. He saw the branch wasn't as sturdy to lean the ladder against, as was the tree trunk. This would add Risk to the Cost of the apple. Since the Cost of the apple had risen, Ted, being the smart fellow he is, had to rethink the Value of the apple. Was it worth the additional cost?

A  lot of people get lost in this step, as they place little worth in replanning things. As I said, the bad thing  about plans is they can go wrong. The best thing about a plan is that you know when they go wrong. And why is it good to know something's going wrong? So you can fix it.

Ted, being a smart guy, who usually gets what he wants, knew correcting his plans sometimes takes as much time as making the original plans. Sometimes more time, depends on how wrong things go. Our experimments have proven that if something CAN go wrong, there's a good chance it will, and usually at the worst possible time.  The time you spent making the plan in the first place is invaluable here. You will find the better the plan in the first place, the easier to modify and correct.  The more care put into the initial planning, the sooner you will know when it is not working. The sooner you know it's not working, the sooner you can correct it. A well made plan includes a way to check the plan every step of the way, to insure you are making progress toward achieving the end result.  Not all motion is forward, you need to know when you have gone off-course. You can only do that by checking your actions against your plans. This is the only way to truly measure progress toward getting what you want.

Plan your checks, check your plans.

By moving the ladder from the trunk of the tree out on the branch, the ladder becomes more unstable. This now adds an element of Risk to the cost of the apple. It no longer is a matter of just Time and Labor.  In a nutshell, Risk is a variable that considers what will be the cost of the outcome if things go wrong with the plan.  It can be measured in Money, or Time Lost, or in this case physical injury. 

He didn't just slide the ladder out on the branch and climb up the ladder. He recalculated the Value of his want. 

In matters of Risk that involve physical injury all cautions MUST be taken in your planning. Few rewards are worth the damage that can happen when physical injury is a possibility. Proper planning will not only help you find places where injury is a Risk, it can help you  reduce the chances of the injury occuring. Another reason plans are so important.

The Labor going up the ladder will not change much. Time will increase because of the caution needed to climb an unstable ladder. However, if Ted were to fall off the ladder, and injure himself, the Cost of the apple becomes too high. The Value of his want is no longer worth the Cost.  

Now, our hero has been up and down  ladders a few times.  But usually they are set stable, and he can just go up and down with no problem. This one's a bit different. He sees that the ground is soft and he can push the base of the ladder in a bit to help it stay in place. He looks up and sees that even though the top of the ladder will sway with the branch, it isn't swaying too far. It's a gentle breeze, not a hurricane.  He has the confidence in his ladder climbing abilities and experience to know how to stay balanced. He believes he can get up and down the ladder safely.  To Ted the risk was still worth the reward.

 Ted, pushed the base of the ladder into the soft earth. He then set the top of the ladder on the thickest part of the branch, but where he could still reach the apple. He then started the final steps towards achieving his want. He stepped onto the first rung of the ladder.

I will now take your questions.

Not exactly; it was a GOOD thing that Ted saw he couldn't reach the apple before he climbed the ladder, but I wouldn't call it lucky. Ted knew how far he could reach. Ted was checking his actions against his plan as he was going along. Good things happen when things are planned well, and that plan is followed well.

Yes, I do keep harping on planning. Planning is the only way to get what you want EVERY time. If you take the parable of Ted and Ned, apply to any want, it will work, every time. That is more completely explained  in Lesson 7.

I guess I didn't make that clear enough, sorry. The cost of Risk is different than the sum of risk. When you think of risk versus reward, that "risk" is the total of what you have to expend to achieve the want.  In our parable, Ted started with a total risk of Time and Labor. When you think of "Risk" as a cost, it refers to assets that can be lost if something goes wrong during your course of action. In Ted's case, the "Risk" is physical injury if he falls out of the tree. 

Yes, that Risk increases the higher up the ladder he is if he falls. Great question.

True, if he's high enough, and say,  he has to go to a doctor, then that also will cost Time, Money, and possibly Loss of Wages, if he misses work, etc.... 

Exactly! That's why you have to revalue your want when you have to rethink the cost. It's the smart thing to do. You're getting pretty good at this.

To Recap;

To get what you WANT, you must know WHAT you want.

Once you KNOW what you want, you must know HOW to get it.

To know HOW to get it, you must know the COST.

Once you know, you got to GO !

Plan your checks, check your plans.

This now concludes Lesson 5

I will tell you when the test is over.

When you have mastered this lesson, Click HERE

To read the details of Stormy's Question, see the Blog HERE.