Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt has developed the EC thinking technique to assist in identifying and solving both day-to-day and chronic conflicts in businesses (Goldratt, 1993; 1994; 1995). At a Jonah Upgrade Workshop, Effrat Goldratt and Lamor Winter (1996) describe the use of the three-cloud approach to building a Current Reality Tree (CRT) as it applies to individuals. They had invented this approach, testing it out in workshops, and later proposing that it be used in organizations. Resolving personal external and internal conflicts/dilemmas is a major factor in improving personal productivity.2 You cannot focus your efforts if you do not know what the problem is that is blocking you from achieving your goal(s). While most books and chapters on personal productivity ignore conflict problems as topics, we feel that acquiring skills to solve these problems provides the foundation for both personal and white-collar productivity, managing many thought activities, and overall managing the organizational improvement processes. Personal and white-collar productivity requires focus, concentration, and motivation. The elimination of conflict problems that block or inhibit applying these factors to a problem is a necessary condition to being productive.

Most improvement books discuss "to-do" lists, but few discuss linking daily activities to short-term objectives to life goals. Moreover, fewer discuss developing detailed plans to change your life. The Negative Branch Reservation (NBR) is useful in testing the impact of actions in a good solution. The Prerequisite Tree (PRT) is useful in identifying and overcoming obstacles in implementing your solutions. Each of Dr. Goldratt's techniques provides a graphic display of the logical relationships surrounding a problem. In Chapters 24 and 25 of this handbook, Oded Cohen and Lisa Scheinkopf describe the procedures for both constructing and communicating these applications. We will not duplicate their efforts. In this chapter on personal productivity, we will present a couple of applications of these two simple but highly effective TP to demonstrate their application to personal problems. Both tools provide the basis for understanding other TP presented in other chapters and in the detailed application in this chapter. You will be quite surprised at how these TP allow you to verbalize your intuition and how useful they are in identifying and communicating ideas to other people. The personal productivity application in this chapter shows how the full TP assisted one student to achieve a life-long dream.

You face numerous personal dilemmas over the course of your life. These dilemmas sap your energy, concentration, focus, motivation, etc. far more than you realize. Some might be one-time situations where the decision can change the whole course of your life; some might be a series of recurring dilemmas that evolve into a chronic conflict between you and another party; and some might be just plain and simple, nagging, day-to-day dilemmas. Let us provide a series of dilemmas drawn from personal experiences. Imagine the impact these dilemmas have on your energy, concentration, focus, and motivation in all facets of your life. We use one of our sons as the example. Please recognize that a similar series of dilemmas can exist with your daughter, spouse, parents, siblings, coworkers, subordinates, supervisors, etc. The objective (the A) and requirements (the B and C) may occasionally change for the person and the relationships you have with them, but this segment of the cloud usually repeats itself again and again across a number of different dilemmas.

Background: Father-Son Dilemmas

My son and I (and prior to that my daughter and I) seemed to continually argue about nothing (as far as I was concerned). I kept saying, "No, are you crazy?" or "No, you are too young!" to most of his requests. I was frustrated with our degenerating relationship. I hated to always be the bad guy. I wanted him to be safe, honest, well mannered, hard-working, and motivated. I felt it was my responsibility to ensure that he grew up to be a model citizen.

I finally realized I was in a chronic conflict.3 At this point, I reminded myself to question my own and my child's assumptions based on the current situation and try to come up with a win-win solution. When he entered high school, I found the need to diagram some of the conflicts to gain a better understanding of our declining relationship. Our common objective was simple: to maintain a lasting father-son relationship. I consider this father-son cloud to be a chronic conflict as the son will always be pushing for more and more freedom as he gets older and the father will always examine the situation for security and want the son to make the right decisions. If I continually say "No!" then I create a relationship that I will regret the rest of my life. My son will just do what he wants behind my back and our lines of communication will be damaged or broken. On the other hand, if I continually say "Yes," then I am irresponsible and am neglecting my role as a parent to provide a safe and secure environment.

In order to have a great father-son relationship, I want to ensure that my son makes responsible decisions. In order to have a great father-son relationship, my son wants me to recognize he is an adult (recognize that even a 12-year-old thinks he is an adult). In order to have a great father-son relationship, we need to accomplish both-I want to ensure my son makes responsible decisions and my son wants me to recognize he is an adult. In order that I want my son to make responsible decisions, my son must make the same decisions I would make. However, in order that my son wants me to recognize he is an adult, my son must be allowed to make his own decisions. On one hand, my son must make the same decisions I would make, while on the other hand, my son must be allowed to make his own decisions. Are these two actions D and D in conflict? Yes. Please read the cloud in Fig. 38-1a carefully to understand each person's assumptions and their suggested injection for this chronic conflict.

I will illustrate the chronic nature of this father-son relationship with several specific examples drawn from my personal relationship with my son. I am not saying that I have a perfect relationship with my son through this case study. I am saying that there is a chronic problem in the father-child (any parent-any child) relationship and it must be recognized and addressed as such or there is no relationship.

Father-Son "Rules" Dilemma (Primary School)

Situation: "Put your toys away." "Clean your room." "Make your bed." "Clean up the bathroom." "Go to your room and study." Are these commands that you seem to be giving to your children more frequently? Are their actions coming slower and slower? My son was starting to question-Why? Why do I have to do it now?

FIGURE 38-1 Father-son relationship conflicts.

This questioning of rules marks the start of the chronic conflict of the father-son relationship. Be careful in how you respond as this period marks the beginning of the struggle between a parent and the child; of letting the child grow to accept responsibilities. Please read the cloud in Fig. 38-1b carefully to understand each person's assumptions and his suggested injection.

Win-win solution (based on the NBR): Dad has four basic rules (short version) which can never be violated-(1) No drugs. (2) No sex. (3) No smoking. (4) No drinking and driving. All other rules are negotiable based on the situation. I recognize that my son may have violated some of these rules occasionally, but I added a fifth rule when he reached the age of 21. The added rule is: (5) Use the cloud and NBR for evaluating the decisions you make. Recognize that you must live with the negative consequences of the decisions you make.

Father-Son "Curfew" Dilemma (High School)

Situation: My son and I seemed to argue continually about what time he was required to be home. This situation worsened when he got his driver's license. Please read the cloud in Fig. 38-1c carefully to understand each person's assumptions and his suggested injection.

Win-win solution: Based on the situation, determine an approximate reasonable hour. If you change plans or may be late, then immediately call home and renegotiate. For any serious problem, call home immediately.

Father-Son "Major Issue" Dilemma (College)

Occasionally, a major issue will crop up between my son and me. When it does, it lasts a long time. The following is just such an issue.

Situation: My son was driving his truck and had an accident, which was his fault. He admitted that he caused the accident (fortunately, no one was hurt). The dilemma-our insurance had a $500 deductable. I wanted him to pay the $500 deductable and he wanted me to pay the $500 deductable. Please read the cloud in Fig. 38-1d carefully to understand each person's assumptions and his suggested injection.

Win-win solution: My son pays the deductable by working for his dad (flexible hours). He cleaned and stained the deck. He also set up dad's computer system, checked all files and diskettes for viruses, and restructured the hard drive. He did several tasks dad never could find time for or the desire to do. Son desperately wanted to resolve this situation but did not want to cash in a certificate of deposite (CD). He always saved his money to buy CDs and had never cashed any in.

Father-Son "Co-Op" Dilemma (College)

Situation: My son calls home very excited about the opportunity of co-oping with a company at $15 per hour. We were quite excited for him as well. The job would look good on his resume and may result in a future job with that company. He had already checked with his advisor to determine the impact of co-oping on his graduation date. The advisor had stated that it would delay his graduation 2 years. He is in chemical engineering and several courses are specialized and offered only once a year. Understanding the problems of taking prerequisites, I was quite concerned. Please read the cloud in Fig. 38-1e carefully to understand each person's assumptions and his suggested injection.

Win-win solution: My son checked again with his advisor to determine exactly which courses remained to be taken, when they were offered, and when he could take them based on having the prerequisite courses for starting the co-op program in the spring, summer, and fall quarters. He found that it would add two years (go to school in the spring and fall and [start] co-op in the summer and winter quarters) to his current graduation date under the best situation and 3+ years under the worst case (co-op in the spring quarter, when the job was extended, go to summer school, and co-op in the fall). Given this information, he talked to the company personnel and decided the proposed co-op position was not a good situation at present.

Father-Son "Drinking Age" Dilemma (College)

Situation: My wife and I do not serve alcohol in our home. I occasionally drink socially. We do not serve or drink alcohol to set a good example for our children. How can I tell them not to drink and drive and then do it, or even worse, how can I serve alcohol to guests in my home knowing that they must drive home afterward? We have always told them, "Never drink and drive. And never let a friend drink and drive. Call us, we will pick you up at any hour, no questions asked."

My son was to turn 21 on the weekend of the Auburn University (he went to AU) versus University of Georgia (I taught at UGA) football game. The game was in Athens, GA (our home) so he wanted to bring nine fraternity brothers to spend the weekend with him. He wanted to serve alcohol to them at his party in our home. We knew that they would party that weekend with or without our permission at local bars. Please read the cloud in Fig. 38-1f carefully to understand each person's assumptions and his suggested injection.

Win-win solution: We developed a set of strict rules for serving alcohol in our home.

1. My son must enforce the rules-he is an adult and is responsible for the safety of his guests.

2. He will card each friend to ensure that he is 21. He will not let anyone below 21 drink.

3. He will monitor the drinking of each friend.

4. He will not let anyone who has been drinking drive.

5. He will inform his friends of these rules before they come into our home.

Father-Son "Las Vegas" Dilemma (College)

Situation: My son called home to see if he could go to Las Vegas with his friends. After listening patiently to the situation, we heard, "Can I go?" His roommates (nice young guys) were going to Las Vegas with one of the roommate's father and uncle. They had rooms at a great hotel and it would be four college students and two adult males. Please read the cloud in Fig. 38-1g carefully to understand each person's assumptions and his suggested injection.

Win-win solution. My son goes to Las Vegas with four rules.

1. He is going with three college friends and two parents.

2. He is staying at a great hotel.

3. He is paying for it.

4. He calls prior to leaving, at arrival, departure, and return to Auburn. He also calls immediately if any problems arise.

Father-Son "Poor Grades" Dilemma (College)

Situation: My son is a rising senior majoring in Chemical Engineering. He joined a fraternity his freshman year and at times I think he is more interested in fraternizing than studying. He started well academically and has continually declined in grades over the past three years. We have continually argued about his lack of studying. He continually blames his teachers for his poor grades. Being a teacher myself, I realize that some teachers are bad, but my son cannot be getting all of them. I blame him for his poor grades. I recognize that if he does not change his behavior he will not graduate, he will graduate but not be able to get a job in his field, or he will get a job but be unable to function. Every situation looked bad to me. His future is not happy, how can I change the situation? Please read the cloud in Fig. 38-1h carefully to understand each person's assumptions and his suggested injection.

Win-win solution: By mutual agreement among AU, my son, and me, my son dropped out from college for six months and took two full-time jobs, one landscaping and mowing lawns all day and one as a bartender in the evenings. He figured out somehow between these two jobs that he was smarter than the brains required for either job. He went back to college, changed majors, worked part-time, improved his grades significantly, and graduated.

Father-Son Chronic Dilemma Summary

These reflections on the ECs of a father-son relationship are not meant to describe stellar decision-making. They are provided to illustrate the chronic nature of relationships among people whether the other person is a parent, child, sibling, friend, business associate, subordinate, peer, or supervisor. The ECs reflect what Covington (2009) describes as the elements that define relationships and culture in an organization: 1. Trust and honor people.

2. Our purpose and processes to achieve our purpose are clear.

3. Ongoing education and information.4 These same elements form the basis of sound, open, healthy relationships with other people.

The sooner we recognize that we are in a chronic conflict situation and identifies the common objective, each party's requirement, the opposing actions (usually this is clearly defined), and the underlying assumptions for each side, the sooner one can study how to build a win-win lasting relationship with the other person.

Personal Productivity Dilemma-Where to Spend Your Time?

We examined the father-son chronic conflict and several specific examples to illustrate the complexity of only one dimension of one facet of a person's life. Let's look at other chronic conflicts that you have faced or are currently facing in hopes of improving your productivity. Prior to doing that, let's first examine the EC template and some helpful hints on constructing the EC.

A Review of Constructing the Evaporating Clouds

A number of other chapters provide detailed instructions on how to construct the EC with examples of each step. This review is not meant as a comprehensive procedure of how to construct and test the EC logic. Study Fig. 38-2 to ensure that you remember and understand how to construct ECs. Answer each of the questions in the blocks in the template, using complete sentences in the order suggested. Follow the guidelines and helpful hints in the figure. Check the logic by reading the cloud using necessary condition logic: In order for ___ to (A, B; A, C)____, then (B, D: C, D)_____. Do the statements make sense? Surface and build the assumptions. We will assume you know how to construct valid ECs in the remainder of this chapter. If you feel you need additional instruction, then go to Chapters 24 and 25 on the TP.

College Student Dilemma (Undergraduate)