The quest to solve capacity problems before they happen

As the Technical lead for Binocs, I am often struck by the standard approach to solving capacity problems in planning: such issues are typically addressed only reactively, rather than proactively. But it needn’t be that way and I’d like to take a few minutes to illustrate why.

Solving capacity problems before they happen—aka resource capacity planning—can be best explained with a version of Irving Zola’s parable:

You and a friend are having a picnic by the side of a river. Suddenly you hear a shout from the direction of the water — a child is drowning. Without thinking, you both dive in, grab the child, and swim to shore. Before you can recover, you hear another child cry for help. You and your friend jump back in the river to rescue her as well. Then another struggling child drifts into sight. . . and another. . . and another.

The two of you can barely keep up. Suddenly, you see your friend wading out of the water, seeming to leave you alone. ‘Where are you going?’ you demand. Your friend answers, “I’m going upstream to tackle the guy who’s throwing all these kids in the water!”

So often in life, we get stuck in a cycle of response. We put out fires. We deal with emergencies. We stay downstream, handling one problem after another, but we never make our way upstream to fix the systems that caused the problems.

Cops chase robbers, and doctors treat patients with chronic diseases, and call-center reps address customer complaints. But crime and chronic disease and customer complaints are preventable! So why do our efforts skew so heavily toward reaction rather than prevention? And what can we do to shift our focus upstream?

Capacity problems solving with Binocs

Binocs capacity planning and especially the what-if scenarios are our answer to help you focus upstream and solve capacity issues before they cause problems in your day-to-day work. In this 7-minute video, we’ll show you how it’s done in Binocs.