Thinking Through

I remember many years ago, when I have just started work, one day my director propped over my cubicle wall and asked me, how do you decide what solutions to choose to implement? I then said I would choose the simplest solution to do because of the maxim the simplest is the best.

He half-shook his head and walked off!

Now, many years and moons later, I understand why he did that. The key is that even though the solution finally chosen may be the simplest, what has to take place prior is the now often heard cliche -- Think Through.

But what is thinking through and how do we think through.

My analogy is that thinking through is like drawing a map. Say you have a friend who has never been to Singapore and wish to make his way from the Woodlands Custom to Chinatown by himself but with a benfit of a map and directions.

A no think-thru solution will be hop on a cab and tell the driver to go to Chinatown. A slightly more detailed solution will be to inform where is the taxi-stand, how much are the rates, how long the journey will take, are they sur-charges and on reaching Chinatown, which location to alight, which are the sights to visit and etc.

An even more thought-through solution is to offer besides taxi, the option of taking public transport and that includes options like bus or MRT. So with each option there are the associated details. There is also the option of driving and correspondingly more options.

But you get the drift: the map starts off a blank sheet and the more you think-through, the more populated the map becomes and hence the more choices one can make.

For work, bosses like options because they need to manage risks and consequences and most importantly costs and their trade-offs.

In my next post (or posts), I will attempt to share some insights gleaned from my personal experience.