Peter Rufus has written an excellent thought provoking article on jigsaws and business planning. To summarise (and go read the whole thing because it’s that good):
I was also, at the same time, working on the vision for our business; something that I’d been working on for the past few months but only in bits and pieces. The Christmas break was finally the time to give it a good, hard crack.
As I worked on the puzzle and the vision, I couldn’t help but observe how alike they are.
The clearer the final picture, the easier it is to work towards
The clearer the final picture, the easier it is to fit the pieces
The clearer the final picture, the easier it is for everyone to work together
Jamming the pieces doesn’t work
You know when something fits
Be prepared to undo some pieces and fit them elsewhere
The simplest moves can make all the difference
Just because you are crystal clear on the end goal doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes on the way there
Now, the analogy of a business vision as a jigsaw is, in my opinion, a great mental model. Scott Adams notes that analogies are good tools for explaining a concept to someone for the first time. One downside is that all discussions that involve analogies devolve into arguments about the quality of the analogy, not the underlying situation. So, to avoid this, I’m going to use my own analogy to be on an equal footing. I’ve never completed a jigsaw so I’m going to pull out the Lego!
We will start in the same place, Lego and Jigsaw. Peter says the clearer the final picture, the easier it is to work towards. I will say, borrowing from Stephen Covey, start with the end in mind. This is easy, with Lego, and Jigsaws, because the end is pictured on the box. You can, literally, choose your own adventure. Real life is a little more complex though, and sometimes the end in mind at the outset changes during the journey. My Lego Porsche GT3RS has 8000+ pieces. With 1 (yes, ONE) additional piece and $15 worth of additional instructions, you can build something even more amazing.
The people at Rebrickable set out to change that and discovered anybody could build a Stratos out of the same pieces found in the 911 GT3RS kit.
Completed by Ashley Winston and blogged by Hooniverse, the Stratos arguably looks more accurate, less awkward, cooler, and is certainly more unique than the GT3RS kit it is spawned from. To be specific, it is modeled after the 1974 Lancia Stratos Stradale HF.
So for me, start with the end in mind, but have systems rather than goals, an ethos rather than a fixed statement. Be open to the journey leading to a different place.
Peter alludes to this when he says be prepared to undo some pieces and fit them elsewhere and just because you are crystal clear on the end goal doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes on the way there. A goal that mandates no mistakes means you can never fail. This means you can’t take any risks. Rory Sutherland says taking no risk makes you very very predictable, and therefore very very vulnerable. Antifragility is a beautiful thing, as another great thinker, Nassim Nicholas (solid name there) Taleb said in his book of the same name.
One thing Peter doesn’t mention, because it’s not a jigsaw thing, is sometimes you have to discard pieces. You can’t play an A game with C players, and even if they are A players, sometimes they are not A players in your game. I love topgradings X/Y axis for this. I guess this is where those additional parts come in! I wonder if there are some savants out there who mix and match jigsaw sets to produce genius? For the less gifted amongst us, Peter has further advice: The simplest moves can make all the difference. If it’s not a hell yes…it’s a no. Sherlock Holmes said it well, once you have excluded all the possibilities you can exclude, whatever is left must contain the answer. Sometimes it’s obvious that people need to go. You know when something, or someone, fits. (As an aside, here is a link to an awesome answer to how you improve diversity and alignment in your company!)
So now that I’ve quoted many great thinkers (and I count Peter Rufus in that group), I’ve got the appetite to go work on my own Lego – back to PartridgeGP (our website is by Peter and Nicknack as well), to help, support, and work with our valued patients, GPs, allied health professionals, nurses, and fantastic staff!
PartridgeGP works with you to help you make your best health decisions, and we won’t back away from being your companion, guide, advisor, and sounding board through your health journey. We pride ourselves on great communication and we’re ready to share our professional skills and knowledge with you.
Let us be the missing piece in your puzzle! This is only MORE important now, in the time of a global pandemic with a new vaccine on the horizon. The way forward is clear: make your appointment with us conveniently online right here – or call our friendly reception team on 82953200.
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For everyone, we believe that having a usual GP or General Practice is central to each person’s care and recommend that people with any health issues that come to the attention of other health professionals should be advised to attend their usual GP or General Practice rather than a specialised service (ie a place not providing the holistic care a specialist GP would). If they say that they don’t have a usual GP or general practice, they should be helped to find one and to actually attend it. Call PartridgeGP on 82953200 or make an appointment online here.
(Hat tip: Dr Oliver Frank)
Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com
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