Gap Analysis

In my 9-5 job, I work as a consultant. As consultants, we use lots of fancy-schmancy words (such as "deliverable" and "workobject" and "prioritization queue") in order to make ourselves sound important. Unfortunately, some of these words carry over into my "other" jobs (wife, mother, etc.) to the point that my husband often teases me that he can't do a home improvement project unless I first present to him "a design deliverable, in Power Point, with system flows and required signoffs."

If you've happened to read my other blog, you know that one of the things I'm working on in my personal life is to Be a Non Smoker. I've spent a good part of the past few weeks thinking about and planning for this goal, and in doing so, another fancy-schmancy term from work keeps ringing in my head, over and over again: Gap Analysis

What's a gap analysis? It's a simple concept, really. My job is basically to help large corporations improve their business and technology processes and infrastructure. To do this, the first step is to determine the current process and procedures. We call this the "as is." (Duh!) Next step is to determine how you want things to work in the future. We call this the "to be." (Again, duh!) The gap analysis is just what it sounds like... a long, hard look at the difference (gap) between what you have today and what you want to have tomorrow. (No, it's really not rocket science, but don't tell that to the people that hire us "consultants!") After that comes the "workplan," wherein you lay out all the detailed steps on how to get from "as is" to "to be," thus closing off the gap.

So as I've been thinking about "Be a Non Smoker," I've been doing some soul searching about why now, finally, is the time for me to do this and do it right. There are all the obvious reasons about why it's a good idea to stop smoking... it's unhealthy, it smells bad, etc. But I've tried to quit (with varying degrees of success) more times than I can count and every time I've quit, I've started back up again. Unhealthy and smelly don't seem to be enough to make me quit for good. I needed more than that. Enter my own personal gap analysis.

What it boils down to is that my "to be Kat" is not someone who smokes. She's not someone who relies on chemicals or settles for "I can't do it because it's too hard." This is not to say I'm a wuss... I've overcome pretty much everything else "bad" in my life, and I don't settle for much less than perfection in most things... but this smoking thing keeps kicking my butt, over and over again.

There are lots of other things I'd like to change about myself, some of them small and some of them big. Short of hitting the lottery, quitting my job and moving to a remote island in the South Pacific, some of them will never happen, and that's OK with me. It's a balance I need to find and accept for myself on which of the "as is" things can be incorporated into my life in a "this is OK with me" sort of way, which things I can change, and what a realistic, affordable "to be" looks like. My gap analysis is a work in progress (and the workplan is still in very early draft mode), but it's something I've been giving more and more thought to. What can I improve? What can I afford? What gives me the most bang for my buck vs. what might "cost" more (not necessarily in terms of money) but has the best CBA (cost benefit analysis -- another consulting buzzword).

Not sure where my gap analysis will lead me, though in my mind I'm working on an honest picture of my "as is" and thinking through what's a realistic, achievable "to be." I may or may not post more on it here, and these things may or may not end up on my 5 Things list. But... it's a great, honest, introspective exercise and if you haven't ever tried it, it's something you might also think about doing.

Though it's a lot of work (mentally, emotionally and maybe, even physically) to start tackling my "to be Kat" list, I hope that even when this exercise is done, there will be more to add. After all, what fun would life be if you knew that this is as good as it's going to get? There's always more to work on, always a way to improve, always a "next thing." My next thing is to Be a Non Smoker.... what's yours?