Last weekend I managed to create the perfect example of what goes wrong when you don't follow this. Fortunately the drawer box I built was too long so I was able to remove, rebuild, and get it fixed before anyone else saw it That isn't necessarily always the case however. If you walk onto job sites or into shops anywhere, you will find pieces that look like they have been made for a specific reason, but are in the scrap pile/bin. Typically, they are undersized. When I was still doing light construction for myself, family and friends, I referred to these as "pattern pieces." These were mistakes that let me get it right the second time.
As I worked on fixing the drawer box and thought about it, I realized that this happens to me less than it used to and I wondered why. As I really stopped and thought about it, I realized that this most often happened when I worked without a plan. In the case I described above, I knew roughly what I wanted and I had the space that the unit would need to fit within. So I started cutting parts and assembling the box. Everything went together nicely, and resulted in a well fitting drawer unit, right up to the minute were the drawer stuck out of the back of the unit. That wouldn't work. So, as I usually do, I shouted obscenities for a moment, then walked away from it for a week. I guess that I hoped when I looked at it again it would have miraculously corrected itself. No such luck.
While this is a really good lesson for the shop, there is a much bigger application for the rest of my life. Just like in the shop, when I fly by the seat of my pants, I am much more likely to make a mistake and have to do things over again. Maybe it's because I believe that I am capable of figuring things out as I go along. That works sometimes, but often times falls short. I need to stop and take the time to plan so I don't waste precious resources that I am using on any given project. In the shop, this is most notably hardwood lumber and plywood products, but in the non-shop world, there are even more precious commodities. When I fail to plan in the "real world" I have a tendency to waste other's time and talents. These resources are generally in short supply and should be used in the most conservative manner possible. In times when we are asked to do more and more with less and less, the planning process needs to be the most critical component in any activity. I knew this when I worked in a very large company, but now that I work in a smaller organization, I have forgotten some of this. We have the ability to get the right people in the room quickly and make a good decision to move us forward that sometimes I forget how important planning is.
Now that I've thought about this, my tendency is to circle back to the place I have always been the most comfortable. When faced with a challenge, I need to stop and consider the best way to tackle it. When I was little and did this, my mom referred to me as "lazy." Even though those words still echo in my ears, I know this is the smart way to do things.
Stop and plan - plan to an absurdly finite end. Plan down to the least little thing. If there are 305 steps to a project, make sure that each one is planned. Know what each step is and in what order it will occur. And when this is finished, go back through it all again. Make sure that all of the contingencies and possibilities and anything that can go wrong is considered.
When I can truly answer that I have planned to that level, then I can move forward, using the plan as a road map to success. Not just a guess, but truly a plan, that if followed, has a great likelihood of success. This means using all of the tools that are available, and constantly looking for new tools to use and new ways to think about doing things. In the end, more projects and and pieces in the shop will be completed well because I have gone through all of the right steps and spent time thinking about where things could go wrong,
And ... I will end up with less "pattern pieces."
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