points and the piano factor

During a meeting today with Mike and Raven ...   we were talking about the number of points to assign for certain BBs.   After a lot of discussion, Mike came up with a really good way to add clarity ...


Suppose a (rather skilled) person built two different things. Let's go so far to say that both took exactly the same amount of time - 200 hours.  

Thing 1:  a quite lovely piano.

Thing 2:  a captains bed with intricate, well crafted storage above and below the bed.  


Suppose both projects are submitted for oddball points.  I would give the bed 200 points and the piano 40 points.  

As we discussed it, I now choose to refer to this difference as "the piano factor."  

There are several things that influence this decision, including, but not limited to:

  -  Otis.   In choosing who to will his land to, Otis wishes to find somebody that will make this land thrive.   But somebody that specializes in building musical instruments might ignore the land in favor of building musical instruments.

  -  I am trying to create a program that will compete with a four year university program.   A degree in physics will also not feature building pianos.  And the PEP program is already diverse when focusing on things that are more practical.

Mike makes an excellent argument:  A lot of Otises (and Otessas) will be far more impressed with the piano.   True.   And there are heaps of variations for which the same can be said.   But there are thousands of schools of thought down this path, and i think PEP is going to be hard enough to get traction as is.   I choose to value the bed five times higher than the piano for this program at this time.   I think it will have better Otis buy-in, and it will have better buy-in for people considering PEP4 certification.   I may be wrong.   But I do think that this program needs to crawl before it can walk.  So I need to draw a few hundred lines in the sand - and the piano factor is one of those lines.  

You're definitely making sense as far as I can see.

A piano is a machine.
A captain's bed is furniture.
Anyone that can build a piano can build the captain's bed.
Valuing the bed higher rewards perceived interest over broader and deeper competence.
The very choice to start and finish the program demonstrates interest.
If I were to choose someone to repair a seeder, based on this information,  I would choose the piano maker.

I think the importance will depend on the interests of any particular Otis?

If I were in that position, looking for someone to inherit my land, I think I would pick the person who values music over someone who put all of that effort into a bed...who needs a big fancy bed when they can make something that feeds the soul?

I believe that the effort and skill put into building a piano...woodworking, some metal work, some quite delicate and some not so delicate...could easily cross over into other areas around the farm.  

Forty years ago we were sleeping on blankets on the floor, then a mattress and now a mattress up off the floor....nothing could make me want a bunch of wood working built around that...but we've always had musical instruments and for a long time a piano. My guy, a woodworker, has always enjoyed making an occasional small instrument on the side for pleasure, using his woodworking skills.  

I don't think that farming and musical instruments are exclusive and possibly just because someone spent time making a piano that does not mean that they are any less capable of farm work.

I understand this is an example and not so literal....I like the thought exercise

All excellent points.  And all true.  

And, I hope that when PEP becomes huge, there will be PEW, PEJ, PEN, PEQ, PET ...   and once the whole alphabet is used up there will be PESH, PEFT, PENT ...   and so on.     And many of those will value the piano as much as or more than the bed.  

But for now, we are working crazy hard on getting PEP off the ground.  This has turned out to be a thousand times more work than I expected.  And I full expect that whoever comes up with PEQ will use 80% of PEP - so their job will be much easier.  

And when trying to read the mind of Otis, I need to make it clear that I am the only one that can read the mind of Otis - mostly because he is a fictional person I made out of the dozens of old geezers that I have talked to that are looking for somebody worthy to will their land to.  

But, just to be crystal clear ...   for PEP there will be many things where "the piano factor" will shift the total points.   "The piano factor" is now a tool in my toolbox to shift points for the sake of many different factors.   Maybe the Otis factor.   Maybe based on my own values.  Maybe for the sake of making PEP have more value to people that are choosing between PEP and going to college.  Dozens or hundreds of factors.  

We need to draw these lines now.   Or else the "what if" game will ensure that PEP is never complete.

And when trying to read the mind of Otis, I need to make it clear that I am the only one that can read the mind of Otis..........We need to draw these lines now.   Or else the "what if" game will ensure that PEP is never comp

I do understand...just couldn't resist the thought exercise

From out here it seems like it's all really taking off and I know that that is not without a whole lot of thought and work behind the scenes...

Judith Browning wrote:From out here it seems like it's all really taking off and I know that that is not without a whole lot of thought and work behind the scenes...

To define one straw badge ....   I think it takes two of us about 12 hours each.     And the end product is a list that looks like it could be written in 15 minutes.