Every meeting planner knows that Murphy's Law--whatever can go wrong, will go wrong, and usually in the most exasperating way--is alive and kicking. But for those among us who are better at math than I, there's actually a formula that can help you beat Mr. Murphy at his game:
((U+C+I) x (10-S))/20 x A x 1/(1-sin(F/10))
Where U=urgency, C=complexity, I=importance, S=skill, F=frequency, and A=aggravation (set at 0.7 by experts after a poll)
"So, if you haven't got the skill to do something important, leave it alone. If something is urgent or complex, find a simple way to do it. If something going wrong will particularly aggravate you, make certain you know how to do it."
But he added a note of caution: "There is, of course, a Sod's Law factor to the equation. If you judge your ratings wrongly, you might become too optimistic - and calamity will strike."
Now can they come up with a way to do away with the phenomenon where the second I say, "Gee, I can't believe I haven't seen a single mosquito today," a bloodthirsty, whining cloud descends on my head, or as soon as I comment on how light the traffic is, it comes to a screeching halt?
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