Spiralling,Your,Targets,Normal DIY Spiralling in to Your Targets
When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in
Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;mso-para-margin-top:0cm;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0cm;line-height:115%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}Its great to apply techniques developed for oneenvironment in another. The design spiral is an engineering design tool used toreconcile apparently conflicting demands and develop a best fit solution thatis acceptable on all fronts.Taking an example from ship design, the carrying capacity ofa ship, and its stability improve as the width of the ship increases, yet thepower needed to move it through the water also increases, quite sharply at thesame time. Ships are normally limited by the depth of water in one of the portsthey must visit, but a long, shallow ship will need a very heavy constructionand thus be heavy, and sink lower in the water.Most design projects will suffer in this way with dozens ofinherent conflicts: so what does the designer do.Well he visualises the final solution as a spot in thecentre of his paper with the issues radiating from this spot towards the edgelike the spokes of a wheel. Direct conflicts, like those above, radiate inopposite directions. He then guestimates the values of all but one issues anduses these guestimates to calculate the value of the last spoke. And thenprogresses round the wheel, spoke by spoke, using the current values, guessedor calculated, until he gets back to his starting point.Of course, each successive calculation is based on betterinformation as guestimates are replaced by calculation, and when he returns tothe first spoke he calculated he can recalculate it based much better data.Going back to our diagram with the solution at the centre and the radiatingspokes, he is out on the same spoke but significantly nearer the centre than hewas before.Someone invented the concept and called it the design spiralso that he could sell lots of books.So he can repeat the process however many times it takes toget as close to the centre as he deems necessary that distance being fixed bythe degree to which he is willing to compromise.Here, strictly for convenience, and at the price if acompromise over political correctness we have used the masculine he ascompared to she or it. The compromise related to clarity and sexism, in thiscase opposite spokes of the wheel.So what, I hear you say.Well so a lot. As we approach any of the major decisionpoints in life we are faced with conflicting requirements and retirement iscertainly one of them. Should we1. Continue working or settle down to enjoyretirement with the resources we have;2. Should we downsize our housing and be crampedwhen the children and grandchildren visit or have the cash resources to travelwhilst our health allows.A business start up offers the same conflicts:1. Do we start a microbusiness based on existingresources we can afford to loose or do we borrow and invest to give ourbusiness the chance to expand and prosper2. Do we trade exclusively on the internet or setup in premises3. Do we do what we enjoy or what will turn aprofit.The list goes on and of course the design spiral does notprovide the answers, on a discipline to help us find those answers.
Spiralling,Your,Targets,Normal