Six Degrees of Trouble
How to Recognize How Big The
Problem Really Is? Part 1
No trouble at all
Problems vary from small to large in life, but the impact, or
what we might call trouble, doesn’t always match the size of
each problem. For example, some problems are small, but
have very little impact on our lives. Like a mosquito bite,
they’re annoying, but the aggravation is usually very shortlived
and it takes hardly any effort to overcome it.
That’s an example of what I call “no trouble at all.” It’s
just the the 1st Degree of Trouble. In traffic defense, that’s
like getting pulled over for speeding, but getting off with just
a warning.
Understanding your problem
To really understand the 6 Degrees of Trouble we explore
the nature of problems in general; or, at least, the difference
between small problems and large problems, and the difference
between those that have little impact and those that have
a large impact.
Small problems are those that are easy to identify. The
source of the aggravation is isolated, and easily singled out. On
the other hand, a large problem is not very easy to isolate at
all. It’s wide spread, and affects many people. And, the source
of the aggravation is vague or hard to identify. Also, for our
purposes, impact is measured by the duration of the effect, the
amount of effort required to eliminate the aggravation.
An Inconvenience
On that basis, a large problem with only a small impact
on your life, still means not much effort is required to
overcome the aggravation, and is nothing more than an
“inconvenience.” The impact a problem creates is based
on the duration of the aggravation and the level of effort
required to resolve it. So, inconvenience is the 2nd Degree of
Trouble, and a good example of that is the common cold that
circulates in the office or slow internet days affecting almost
everybody, but never amounting to anything more than an
inconvenience, like the common cold. In the legal system,
that’s similar to choosing a good lawyer. There are several
to choose from, but with a little research and effort, you can
usually make a good decision.
Brace yourself
What usually causes more alarm and rises to the level of 3rd
Degree Trouble in this analysis is a small problem with an
intermediate impact like a wind storm. There, the problem
is quickly identified, and isolated, but the impact lasts longer,
leaves more damage, requires some precaution and a bit
of clean up afterwards. I call that the “brace yourself” level
of trouble. It’s like getting pulled over for a DUI, and being
asked to perform field sobriety tests. You aren’t sure what say
or do when the police ask you to step out of the car, and your
decision could result in immediate arrest and a night in jail
for DWI.
To Be Continued….
Bracing yourself, however, will not help you with the next
three degrees of trouble, so come back next month when we
present Part 2 of the 6 Degrees of Trouble.
My Traffic Man
1828 Franklin St, Ste D, Bellingham
MyTrafficMan.net
