Begin with the end in mind.
Stephen Covey wrote that in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It’s habit #2, as I just found out. I’ve read that book, truly I have, and though the other six of those habits elude me at the moment, this one obviously left an impression. Maybe I should read it again…
Anyway, I don’t believe that my particular scenario of backward-working was what he had intended with this particular Successful-Person habit.
I took down the dodger and ripped it apart. I cut out the new one and carefully labeled all the pieces. We removed the rusting hardware from the boat. We were feeling very pleased with ourselves.
Wait a moment; what is the new dodger going to attach to? Rust? Time for backward-working to start.
I need to “fit” the new dodger to the stainless structure because I am not a Professional Canvas Worker. In order to have the dodger fit on to the stainless structure the structure has to be assembled. But in order to have the stainless structure assembled the rust has to be gone. Well, if the rust has to be gone then the wood sitting on top of the rust needs to be taken off. This is our dilemma.
What are we going to do about this rust?
Rust is just oozing out from under the dodger. Our boat looks like a derelict in this picture. Were we in over our heads? Nah… Nothing a little stubborn optimism can’t cure!
Sailing Devilfish 