The final step in the Bright IDEAS system is to see how the plan worked, and if it gave you a satisfactory solution to your problem.
- Rate your level of satisfaction out of 5 (with 5 being very satisfied).
- If you rated your satisfaction as a 4 or 5, you can continue using this solution.
- If you rated your satisfaction a 1, 2 or 3, then perhaps the plan did not work out as well as you expected. Identify the reasons why. You may have to adjust your plan for the solution or even move on to your second- or third-choice options.
If you no longer think any of the solutions will work, that is fine. What you might need to do is go back to
Step 1: Identify the problem and check that you defined it correctly.
Case study: Maya sees if her plan worked
After putting her plan into action, Maya looks back on the week to see how well it worked.
Results
On Monday my plan kind of worked because Eva went to school, but my husband and I still wound up arguing. On Tuesday she didn’t go to school, but she still kept her cell phone and my husband and I argued about it. On Wednesday my plan definitely didn’t work.
On a scale of 1–5, how satisfied are you with the result?
I'd say 1 out of 5.
Maya is not satisfied with how things went. The problem she wanted to address was: “My husband and I fight most mornings about whether to make Eva go to school.”
After trying to take Eva’s phone away, she found that she and her husband were arguing just as much as before. Taking the phone away wasn’t effective for getting Eva to school either.
Maya thinks more about how the week went and decides that taking Eva’s phone away is not worth trying again. Instead, she looks back at her list of possible solutions and decides to try another.