The Winch, The Toilet, and the Bus: Concrete Answers to Fuzzy Questions

Sometimes, fuzzy questions have practical and specific answers. You just have to see them. Here are three examples.

1.) A friend of a friend wanted to start an ocean sailing school, and wasn’t sure how many students to plan for. A dozen? Thirty? How would he decide? After a few weeks of contemplation, buttonholing friends to ask opinions, making assumptions and questioning them, he struck the answer that worked. What is the largest readily available winch by which to raise and lower the sails? This determined the largest practical line, which determined the largest practical sheet or sail size, which limited the size of the ship, which determined the number of berths on the ship. Dividing these among instructors and students, he had his answer.

2.) A summer camp at which I used to work wanted to increase capacity, building new cabins, adding staff, planning for more seats in the dining hall, and so on. But how many to add? Again, after considering several different scenarios, each of which had its advantages and disadvantages, the answer became clear: The leech field for the septic system could handle only so many toilets, and that number of toilets restricted the number and size of cabins that the camp could add, which determined the increase in the number of campers. To add any more than this would entail a large expense to reconstruct the septic system, a cost and project the camp was not willing to undertake. Problem solved.

3.) In planning for our high school eight years ago, we knew we were limited by geography—we couldn’t build a sustainable school of 200; there aren’t enough students within commuting distance of our school to make this feasible. Crunching numbers, we saw another limit around 60. Between roughly 60 and 200, we saw what a friend called a “deadly middle ground,” in which we would have to add teachers, facilities, and resources that wouldn’t pay for themselves. So, was 60 our number? We thought so for a while, but then realized that there was a more specific and more practical answer. Given our location and our reliance on and commitment to community resources, we drove our students to a theater for rehearsals, a library for research, a blacksmith or pottery studio for art classes, and so on. Each bus holds 14 passengers, and can be driven by someone with a regular license, no commercial driver’s license necessary. We had our answer, specific and practical: A school of 56. Four vans, four classes of fourteen students each.