Perhaps one of the most important foundation theories that is applicable in almost every aspect of life is this: The situation dictates the action, and the action dictates the consequences. Situation and action for one particular instance have corners that enable them to fit together like matching puzzle pieces, binding them together. When they are combined in this way, they form the consequence. When building a puzzle, once you get a handful of pieces to fit together, you shift your focus to the other loose ones, and repeat this process until your puzzle is completed and you have made tangible sense out of bits and pieces of confusion. Your puzzle will stay together as one piece, as one whole, as one completely uniform picture and will dictate a lasting uniform consequence as long as all of those who took the time and energy to build it unanimously agree that it is better being in one piece than in a thousand pieces. For it takes hands to break as it takes hands to make.

However, if two pieces cannot fit together, what do we do? We can either accept it and move on to try other pieces, or we can be intent on making those two pieces fit together, dammit! and use tools like a pair of scissors to manually alter the edges of the pieces so that they do fit together perfectly. What is wrong with this picture? Everything. If two pieces do not match when they were loose, they will continue not to match when combined. We can build up a puzzle in this manner, making pieces fit when and where and how we want them to, and complete the entire puzzle, with all the pieces being forcefully made to fit together perfectly, but the final picture, the final consequence will be horribly, horribly wrong. Mutated beyond recognition.

There is no one-solution theory-fits-all for situations that need to be dealt with.

• Generic solution theory: If you get a cut, clean the wound, apply a band-aid, and in a few days’ time, the wound will be healed.
• Generic situation: The cut.
• Generic action: Clean the wound and apply a band-aid.
• Generic consequence: Is it recovery in all cases? We leave that to be seen.

 We are going to apply the same action – nothing more, nothing less – to two children who each get the exact same type of cut, and we are going to see what the consequences are.

Scenario: Bill and Ted are running a race in the playground. They both trip over an old tree branch that is lying across their path, and both fall. Both of them get cuts on their right knees.

Bill and Ted’s mothers both help their sons up. Both of them wash their sons’ knees, and both of them get out band-aids to apply to their respective cuts. However, this is where the similarity ends.

What happens to Bill: Bill doesn’t cry and doesn’t flinch when his wound is being cleaned. When his mother washes the blood away, the wound starts to close almost instantly. His mother puts the band-aid on, and he returns to play with the other children at the swings as if nothing had happened. His mother continues to clean the wound and apply a fresh band-aid daily. Four days later, the cut is completely healed, the scab has fallen off, and the scar is beginning to diminish.

What happens to Ted: Ted starts crying and can’t make himself stop. His mother cleans the wound and washes the blood away, but more blood keeps on flowing. The wound remains open and continues to bleed steadily. His mother puts the band-aid on, but it soon falls off of his knee, as the blood-flow makes it impossible for the adhesive strips to adhere to his skin. Ted sits in a corner and continues to cry. His mother continues to clean the wound and apply a fresh band-aid daily. Four days later, however, Ted is dead, as his wound never ceased to bleed and he lost a massive amount of blood.

Whatever happened? Bill was healthy, and his blood began to clot almost instantly. However, Ted was hemophilic, his blood lacked the ability to form a clot and stop his wound from bleeding, so he bled to death.

What should have been different? Ted’s mother should have observed that the generic acceptable action (clean wound + apply band-aid) did not work for her son’s specific situation and should have devised a way to give him treatment that would work for his individual needs – carry him to a doctor where the problem would have been found and analyzed. A proper action plan should have been formulated to stop Ted’s wound from bleeding and to help Ted’s wound heal. This is because the customary action plan to stop a wound from bleeding and to help a wound heal did not work on Ted.

What does this show us? It did not work because Ted was different. Rest assured that Ted is not the only one. Just like Ted, we all are different in the way we think, act, react and respond to situations and circumstances. The machinery that makes us all up is physically the same, but the way that parts of our bodies and minds co-ordinate to make us plan and move and act differs from one to another.

This is why drafting catch-all, passive solutions will never solve problems on a majority level. Lobbying to form support groups and organizations is fine, encouraging or forcing termed delinquents to join and participate in rehabilitation or constructive endeavours is okay, but we cannot expect these things to stop all people who contemplate violent actions to from acting on their thoughts. We cannot expect to change people and re-model them into what we may deem as acceptable.

I am not a violent person. I do not commit crimes. Thus sums up the majority of us who are reading this right now. But I know that once I have my mind set on doing something, no amount of counseling, group sessions or voluntary charity work is going to make me deviate from my course or change my mind. The only person who can change my mind is – me. Is it any different for any of us?

Forget about committing crimes; think about things that we normally plan to do – like paying our electricity bills on time. You want to this. It seems right for you to do. If a group of people grab you on your way to TTEC and sit you down and reasonably explain to you all the reasons why you should not pay your electricity bill on time, what would you do? I would hear them out; let them talk themselves dry and wait for my chance to escape them so that I can continue on my way to TTEC! I would listen carefully and attentively, and at all the right points, I would tell them ‘You’re absolutely right! From now on I’ll do that. What you’ve said makes perfect sense!’ I’ll smile and shake hands with them, and they’ll tell me what a good effect I’ll have on society by changing my ways. Then I’ll leave them and as soon as I turn the corner, I’ll laugh at their stupidity and allow myself to almost feel sorry for them. I know why I pay my electricity bill on time – I happen to like having my electricity and not having to worry about getting disconnected! If they feel differently, that’s all well and good for them, but I’ll not play that silly game with them unless I feel otherwise. I’ll probably forget about them by the next day.

Now what if I were a criminal? I plan to rob that store on the corner because I know they have a lot of money. If anyone gets in my way or recognizes me, I’ll kill them so the police won’t be able to catch me. That’s my plan. It seems right for me to do. Nothing can change my mind for me, only I can do that! My drive as a criminal to commit a crime is no different from my drive as a logical thinking law-abiding citizen worker to pay my electricity bill on time. What would drive me in both instances is the desire to achieve a certain goal. As a criminal, I want money. As a law-abiding citizen, I want my lights to come on every night when I arrive home and turn on the switch. Different situations built on the same theory.

So how DO we start solving the crime situation? I propose self-analysis.

No one knows you better than you yourself. All your doubts, frustrations, fears, anxieties, desires, dreams, ambitions, and proverbial skeletons-in-the-closet – you may keep them secret from everyone else, but you know what they are.

This is something that anyone and everyone can try. Self-analysis is not for criminals only. It does help people to rehabilitate themselves, but it also helps managers build better plans for achieving future business goals, it helps students establish more effective studying habits, it helps you realize and accept problems you may have and formulate your own solutions.

You just stop whatever you are thinking about, or whatever you are doing, or whatever you are thinking about doing, and ask yourself some questions. You answer only to yourself. You can keep your answers in your thoughts, but I prefer writing them down on a piece of paper and reading them over to yourself. This helps to give you a more direct perspective and insight into yourself, and you can rip it up and throw it away afterwards. No one has to know what your answers are. There are no right or wrong answers; the answers you give will give you some insight into who you are, what you are doing, and what it will do for you. Sometimes your own answers may scare you, as you may realize that some characteristics you may reveal may not be consistent with the kind of person you always thought you were. If you do you learn anything about yourself that is disturbing, you can reassure yourself that you have just taken the first step towards changing that feature of yourself.

My personal self analysis

What am I planning to do today?

• What is my intended purpose for doing this?
• How will this affect my today?
• How will this affect my future?
• How will this affect others?
• Do I stand to gain more or to lose more by doing this?
• Do I really want to do this on my own accord, or do I only think I have to because of the influence of something or someone else?
• Can I think of at least 2 other plans of action for achieving the same purpose?

What am I planning to do tomorrow/next week/next month/ next year?

• What is my intended purpose for doing this?
• How will this affect my today?
• How will this affect my future?
• How will this affect others?
• Do I stand to gain more or to lose more by doing this?
• Do I really want to do this on my own accord, or do I only think I have to because of the influence of something or someone else?
• Can I think of at least 2 other plans of action for achieving the same purpose?

What are the things and who are the people in life that matter the most to me?

How will my actions affect these things and people?

There is no generic solution. The only way to get people to change their actions is to get them to think about what it is that they are doing, and what they plan to do. And no one can force anyone to do this. No one can change a person into what they think the ideal model should be. But if we make it possible for people to look at themselves, they may realize of their own accord that what they are is not what they want to be, and they will change themselves.

Environment and circumstances do shape and influence our lives, but deep within it all, we are who we are because we each have our own goals and purposes that we live for and direct ourselves towards. Many times, we may not even be aware of this, and we believe that our actions are random and not connected in any way. It is only when we sit and think that we can begin to discover our own trends and see the links between what we do, and what we try to ultimately achieve. Once we realize what we are trying to achieve, then we can formulate other strategies and other plans of action for achieving our goals.

There is no one way in life. Each one of us must simply choose the particular path that works best for us. And the only way to choose the right path is to assess all the possible paths that we can take, before we take another step forward. Also, it is never too late to choose a new path from the one we had been following all along. The way will be difficult and fraught with hardships and complications, but at the end of the day, it is better to die of exhaustion when you arrive at your destination, than to waste away endlessly toiling on the road.