How To Stop Saying And Start Doing Efficiently With Decomposition

You are reading this article from your phone, computer, or tablet, because your goal is to find out what decomposition is. 

So, you've decided on your goal, but how did you get to this step? 

Probably the first thing you did was to ask yourself where to look for the necessary information, and then opened the browser and entered the desired query into the search engine, and then chose from a list of the most trusted sources and only then stopped here. That's about right, isn't it? It turns out that achieving a goal is a whole system, and by the way, your electronic device is also a system made up of parts that make up a whole.

Goals can be achieved in different ways. Just progress chaotically from point A to point B, and, systematically you will get there. Or you can build yourself a ladder of subtasks, where each step is a calculated step towards the final result. 

The decomposition method, which we will tell you more about in this article personally made for you dear reader, helps to build such a ladder.

What Is Decomposition And Why Is It Needed?

Simply put, decomposition is the division of the whole into parts. The method is based on the movement from the general to the particular, from the global to the specific. There is also the concept of "functional decomposition" — a method for studying and analyzing individual parts and elements of complex processes. 

In this context, a function is a process of performing a large task, it is decomposed into smaller and "easier to understand" units.

In business, functional decomposition is used to facilitate the understanding and management of large and complex processes. Functional decomposition helps solve problems and aids in the development of business operations, computer programming, machine learning, and a variety of other fields. [Investopedia, 2021].

Decomposition is applied in various spheres of activity: in mathematics, business, in setting daily tasks, in problem solving, etc. Even Time management is based on it. To decompose means to build a chain of actions that will lead to the goal. This chain may look like a flowchart or an intellect map, for example.

There are two main types of decomposition:

• Horizontal: the tasks are divided by types of work, levels and components. The disadvantage of this approach is that each completed step does not lead to a specific result. The goal is achieved when all steps are completed, so this decomposition option is rarely used.
• Vertical: Here the detailing of the goal is done "in depth". Each task is studied separately, and in the end, an "sub-result" is obtained. This type of decomposition is much more convenient than the horizontal decomposition, because the outcome of each completed step can be reviewed and changed if something goes wrong.

Whichever type of decomposition you choose, it will fulfil its main purpose — Helping you achieved your goal easily.

To better understand what we are talking about, let's look at an example of a simple decomposition.

Mike's goal is to learn to do 100 push-ups in a row. To achieve this goal, he has designed a training plan: 1 day - 15 push-ups, 2 day - 20 push-ups, 3-4 day - 30 push-ups, etc. Until he reaches the 100 push-ups at a certain time. 

Of course, he can do so without following a system, but simply based on his strength, desire and free time, will it be as effective?

The structure of any decomposition must follow certain principles:

• The final stages of achieving the goal should be simplified as much as possible.
• Each subtask should be clearly formulated and understandable.
• The decomposition must not be overloaded with a large number of small tasks, because it complicates control and management.
• When making a new decomposition level, it is necessary to evaluate the need for the next level and the qualification of the executor, because a more experienced person will cope with a simplified version of decomposition, it is desirable to provide a less qualified executor with an extended scheme.
• All tasks must be subordinated to the top level.
• The final result is 100%. Each step is a fraction of the result, the sum of all steps should be 100%.

In fact, decomposition is not just a method of solving a problem and achieving a goal, but a way of thinking. In everyday life, we are unawarely using it to do many typical things. 

For example, we know how to make a sandwich, and we do it step by step: we choose exactly our sandwich's recipe, cut off a slice of bread, cut off a slice of cheese, add some meat, and voila! - the goal is achieved. This algorithm is performed unconsciously, because the path to achieving the goal has long been known and gone through many times.

But what if you give a cooking task to a person who is far from cooking? He has two options, either he can do it in a compositional way (take the ingredients he likes and use them "by intuition"). Or he can go decompositional, find a step-by-step recipe on the Internet and follow it, saving resources and nerves, but above all, insuring a good result!

This is more true when it comes to business, when a person has a task to perform, decomposition will be the best tool to help accomplishing it. There are good reasons for this:

• Task breakdown: the final goal can be intimidating in its scale and unreality. The student is sure that it is impossible to write a thesis in 2 months, he is frightened by this task, as a result, he begins to procrastinate for a long time. But what if you look at this goal from the position that it consists of many small goals? Write the introduction today, find material for the first chapter tomorrow, etc. In time management there is such a concept as the "Elephant Technique" - this is exactly what decomposition is all about. Its essence is simple, it is impossible to eat the whole elephant at once, but dividing it into steaks is more than realistic.
• Understanding of timing: imagine that a company has set a goal to open a branch in another city in 10 days and spend only 1 million dollars on it. After decomposition, it turned out that this time will not be enough, because they did not take into account the time required to select the team.
• Concretization of the plan: the goal, which does not have a phased scheme of achievement, turns into a ghostly dream. Decomposing the process of bringing it to life makes the end point more realistic.
• Defining resources: back to our new office, discussed in the second point. A detailed breakdown of the goal into subtasks will help you understand that, for example, to launch the branch you need to attract additional company employees and a staffing agency that will select the team.
• Saving time: if you know exactly what needs to be done and in what time frame, it will take much less time to achieve the goal than if you have an abstract understanding of your steps.
• Minimizing risks: The more precisely and clearly each step is spelled out, the less likely it is that resources/time will be wasted.
• Prioritization: A strict hierarchy of subordination of lower-level subtasks to higher-level ones determines what needs to be done first.

Despite the advantages of decomposition, there may be some nuances in the process of decomposition. For example, it is not possible to determine the dependence of one task on another and to understand how detailed the goal should be divided into subtasks. But these issues are not difficult to solve if you approach the process intelligently.

How Can You Decompose?

There is no universal method of decomposition that will fit all goals and objectives. It all depends on how clear and global the goal is, whether there is a possibility of changes in the situation, force majeure, etc. Therefore, we suggest considering the most popular ways of "eating the elephant", which can be used both separately and together.

Decomposition methods:

• Decomposition of stages of work: The method implies a step-by-step breakdown of the goal. It is broken down into stages, which must be performed one by one. Most often, such decomposition is represented in the form of a Gantt chart. For example, it is necessary to organize the mass mailing of emails to clients. This task includes several subtasks, each is a responsibility for a specific person. The sales department determines the discount and promotions, the copywriters composes the content of the emails, and the administrator of the database sends them, etc.
• Prioritization of the goal: The method is suitable if the goal is clear and it is not difficult to determine the steps for its realization. In this case, the SMART goal setting methodology is applied. According to it, the goal must be: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound.
• Decomposition of roles and user scenario: This method is used in the development of websites for example, when it is assumed we have a few options for the same action by different types of users. For example, the buyer of goods in the online store can make a purchase in several ways: to put the product in the shopping cart to compare the offer with other similar products and not to lose it, or immediately pay for the purchase. The buyer in this case can be an authorized user or perform actions on the site anonymously. The functionality of each event will be created by separate subtasks.
• Decomposition of measurable indicators: In this case, instead of describing tasks as the next step, specific numbers are taken into account. This method is convenient when it comes to implementing financial goals, increasing the number of customers, etc. Let's look at an example: Ivan decided to save a certain amount of money over the year. He made a promise to save every day, and to control it, he made a table, where the first column - the date and day of the week, the second column - the amount. For each day, the balance should increase by 10 dollars. The task is measured by a specific amount.
• One-step decomposition: The previous decomposition methods will not work if there is no clear idea of how to achieve the goal, and if there is a risk that the entire thing may collapse due to unforeseen situations. In conditions of instability and uncertainty, one-step decomposition is appropriate: set a goal, select the first priority task and perform it, then return to the main goal and go the same way again.

For decomposition of goals, you can use the Brian Tracy's methodology, which has been widely used in various areas of business. It implies 12 steps that help you arrive at the desired result:

• A clear understanding of your desire and the reality of achieving it.
• Measurability and realism of the goal.
• Fixing the desired result on paper.
• Understanding your own benefits in the implementation of the goal.
• Determination of available resources and baseline indicators.
• Setting a deadline for achieving a goal.
• Identification of possible obstacles that may arise on the way to the goal.
• Possession of additional information.
• Making a list of assistants.
• Drawing up an action plan.
• Visualization.
• Implementation of the planned actions
  

The main difference between Brian Tracy's methodology and others is that it uses various psychological techniques, and this makes the approach more effective than the others. No matter how effective the chosen method of decomposition is, you always need to be prepared for the fact that for some reason the trajectory of the planned path may be disrupted. But this is not a reason for frustration, but an incentive to once again take a clean sheet of paper and build a new scheme with a fresh look and taking into account possible risks.

Learning To Decompose

Decomposition is carried out by the person responsible for the upcoming work, but this practice will be useful to absolutely everyone, regardless of their position and level of responsibility. The decomposition process of a system under study consists of the following main stages:

• Defining the main goal.
• Dividing a goal into several tasks.
• Division of tasks into subtasks.
• Conducting an analysis of each level.
• Removing non-essential tasks.
• Formation of the final scheme.

In the process of visualization, the question often arises: how many levels of decomposition is it rational to do? It is believed that three levels are the best option for most schemes, because it helps to understand what steps need to be taken first. If we are talking about global tasks, then in this case it will be acceptable to apply a six-level decomposition, where level 1 is the values and mission of the company, level 2 is the strategic goals of the company, level 3 is tactical goals that are determined on the basis of the strategic ones, levels 4-6 are a description of tasks and subtasks.

There is no single rule on how many levels there should be. Too detailed a scheme will not be visual, too concise will not give a clear understanding of what needs to be done, and more questions will arise in the process of working on this plan. No matter how many levels are used, the last of them should contain the most elementary tasks that are understandable to performers 

There are many useful tools for visual modelling of decomposition. These include mental maps, tree-like intelligence maps. You can make them by hand, or you can use modern technologies. The following editors will help you with this:

• Miro
• XMind
• LucidChart
• MindJet Mindmanager
• Draw.io
• MindMeister

Let's look at an example of decomposition on a specific situation. Alexander set himself the task of increasing his monthly income by at least 50% in 4 months. In numbers, he seeks to receive about $10k monthly instead of $5k. The main goal is clear and well formulated, the deadlines for its implementation are defined, now you need to understand what belongs to the tasks of the first level.

Alexander realized that he could increase his income in several ways: 

• By getting a raise at work (and this is +$1k to the official salary); 
• By investing in stocks or bonds. Here the exact amount of profit will depend on which product he chooses. Imagine that he has decided and is ready to invest a certain amount in shares that will bring him about $5k a month. 
• Another way to earn money is to find a part-time job, and this is about $1k a month. 
• He can rent something out, and it will be enough to achieve the goal if the rent brings $5k a month.

Now Alexander needs to allocate subtasks to each task. For example, in order to achieve a promotion, it is necessary to complete professional courses to improve managerial skills and implement a sales plan throughout the quarter. To find an additional part-time job, it is necessary to study the offers on the labour market, select the most suitable ones for yourself, make a resume and send it to employers.

Here are some more tips from experts on building a business, how to make a decomposition:

• Proceed to decomposition only when you have clearly formulated the main goal for yourself. An abstract understanding of the endpoint will lead to nothing.
• To determine a rational number of subtasks, ask yourself if these actions are enough to complete a top-level task.
• To complete each stage, there should be no more than 5-9 steps, because a person can actively work with no more than 5-9 tasks at the same time (Miller's wallet), otherwise there will be problems with the perception of actions.
• Rank your actions. Determine the priority of each step (how important it is for the implementation of the higher task and the achievement of the main goal). Act according to the priority of the steps.
• It is often enough to detail only the first level of steps, so you should not get carried away with detailing. Drawing up the next level can take a lot of time, and it needs to be formulated immediately before you start implementing it.
• Define for yourself those tasks that do not require much time and long preparation. Do them right away.
• Set a deadline for each step, but concurrently leave
• a margin of time. This way you will avoid a  failure that may occur due to a delay in the execution of at least one of the tasks.
• Determine which tasks can be performed in parallel – this way you will accelerate your movement towards the realization of the main goal. 

There is no point in decomposing tasks that are easy to do anyway. If the situation is uncertain, and there is not enough information to achieve the goal, you should plan only the first step. With all its advantages, the decomposition method is not always useful and can be a godsend for procrastinators, because sometimes you just need to start doing, and not paint multi-level schemes and thoughtfully look at them in the evenings.

If you have divided the stages by days, but you have not met the deadlines, it means that you have misjudged your capabilities, and you need to revise the plan, make adjustments and shift the deadlines. And if plans are constantly disrupted, it is better to use a one-step decomposition. If you have a goal to perform a large monotonous work, for example, to write a long text, it is better to use the method of dividing into time segments, and not into subtasks. Use the Pomodoro technique: it involves interval work of 25 minutes with breaks of 3-5 minutes, and after completing four segments, the break should last 15-30 minutes.

Summary

The decomposition of goals and objectives, whether it is the implementation of a project or the solution of everyday issues, is an excellent tool that helps to sort out the entire process of work "on the shelves". Visualization of the action plan, description of each step, detailed analysis of how to achieve the goal, as well as the right psychological attitude will help save resources and avoid mistakes on the way.

The main advantage of structural decomposition is that it helps  take a different look at things that can frightening with their scale. As a rule, a person is confused by goals like "save a million in a year" or "lose 40 pounds in six months", because at first glance they seem unrealistic. It is only necessary to decompose the global goal, draw a "tree graph", as everything immediately falls into place.

Decomposition is used in different spheres of life. For example, you can set yourself a goal to learn a new profession on your own in six months, and here step-by-step planning will be very useful.

And as always...

...many thanks for reading.