Quantify the Problem.

Before deciding to solve a problem after you have defined it you need to quantify the problem.

I started the video with the “only one in five-line”. Who knows if that resonates with the audience? Your great work on red tape always has the $176bill punch line. Numbers help tell the story.

In this case, we have defined the problem as a lack of self-reliance in 5 areas, and therefore we should probably quantify each of the 5 areas because it may be that it would be inefficient to tackle one or two of the defined areas.

Physical Self-reliance.

Often people become physically dependant on others as a result of emotional, financial or spiritual issues. We need quantification of the number of people that chose to be reliant when they should be self-reliant.

I have found that there are 60-year-olds who have given up and 100-year old’s that are still self-reliant. It is going to be hard to define who is no longer self-reliant. When you look at the projected numbers for the NDIS and the actual numbers we get some idea of the quantification of people choosing not to be self-reliant. 

Emotional. Self-reliance.

It has always staggered me that it seems every second person in the US goes to a psychiatrist. Add to that those that go to psychologists and those that are helicopted and snow plough parented and we start to understand just how many people are not emotionally self-reliant.

Financial Self-reliance. 

This one should be easy but having said that, it is not.

We can add the 80% of retirees that are on the pension or part pension to the 726,000 unemployed to the 2,000,000 without a job that were not counted. Ref Adam Creighton. 

What about the 60% of households that pay no net income tax or the thousands of Uni students that are having their education dragged out by courses that only require 12 – 20 hours per week.

But I think anybody that can put a figure on red tape can put a figure on financial self-reliance.

Spiritual Self-reliance.

I guess we can do a simple survey of all those that report they have religious beliefs, but that won’t include those that worship at the alter of Climate Change and diversity.

This is not an area of expertise for me, however, the more I read the more the need for spiritual nourishment is reinforced.

Moral Self-reliance.

You could start with the rate of incarceration and move on to convictions, speeding fines and more.

Note: Quantification is normally done to ensure the problem is worth solving. In this case, it will also help with the marketing strategy, and as always, some number will surprise.