In the 1920’s the US Army did a major study to identify the size of the average pilot.  In their mind, if you were able to find what the average length of a pilot’s leg is, you put the pedals that far away from the seat.  If you knew the average width of a pilot’s shoulders, you can build the cockpits wide enough for them to fit.  It made perfect sense.  Now they knew the exact proportions to build their planes and could take advantage of the efficiencies brought by adopting mass production; no need for customization at all.

In the 1940’s, the Air Force started to notice a problem; their pilots couldn’t control the planes.  So, in true military fashion, a study was commissioned in which one individual sorted through all the data to figure out what was wrong and what they found was the pilots didn’t fit in the cockpits which were designed using the average.  In fact, there were zero people in the entire military who were the exact dimensions of the average.

The military went through all that effort to design the perfect plane, only to find it didn’t work for anyone (not to mention, women weren’t even included in the initial study, so there’s 50% of the population ignored right off the bat).  The only solution, develop adaptive cockpits where you can adjust everything to work for the pilot instead of making the pilot work for the cockpit.

The same situation comes up again and again when it comes to personal development tools and models.  You pick up the hot, new book on time management and it’s sold as the solution to all your problems.  You speak with a friend about your lack of drive, and they have a solution which would work for you; because it worked for them.  You even see it in organizations where the hot new organizational development trend is sold as a silver bullet to solve all a company’s woes.

However, when you try it, you find those tools just don’t work for you. 

Why? Because you’re not the author, your problem is different from your friends and your company isn’t Google.

It’s for this reason, every tool needs to first be assessed to ensure it would work for you.  You need to look at the root of your current challenge, understand who you are and how you operate then see if this tool would work for you.  If you decide it does, great!  You’ve got a starting point.  If it doesn’t, not to worry...there are another 50 tools out there you can look at.

Once you’ve selected your tool, it needs to be adjusted to fit your unique situation.  Take from the tool what works for you, throw out the rest.  If it’s still not right, take a bit from another tool.  With some exploration and Trial and Error, you’ll find a solution which works for you.

Don’t get me wrong, that can be a lot of work.  You’ll make lots of mistakes along the way and might take a few wrong turns, but if you play with it, tweak it and try out new iterations, eventually you’ll find something that works for you.

In the end, it doesn’t matter what tool you’re using; if it’s the latest fad or the one you’re friend swears by.  What matters is that you address your challenge.