Reading time: about 1.5 minutes
You know the adage "prepare for the worst, hope for the best." You have probably said it, or thought it, more than once. But do you know which word is key in that sentence?
If you're like me, then you probably lean towards "hope." But I should know better. I spent almost a decade of my career with the word "planning" in my corporate title.
The key word is "prepare."
When we ask, "What is the worst thing that can happen?" many of us think in terms of what we already know, in terms of the worst things that have happened. That's because we find comfort in our frame of reference, in what we can make sense of and explain.
Much of your job as a leader and a manager is to imagine even worse. Next, you must articulate it so that others understand what you imagine. And then you must help them prepare for that even worse than worse case.
Remember, if you plan for the worst, you are not thinking bad enough. But if you are not preparing for the unimaginable worst case, you are not doing your job.
You can bank on that.
(Then again, maybe you shouldn't bank on it. If certain bank executives and financial regulators had done their job, imagining worse than worst, we who rely on banks won't once again feel that worse is still to come.)
→
Your Friday Trigger Question:
Did you think worse than your worst case?
Welcome to my side of the nonsense worst divide.
→
Idea source: Who scared me into understanding that the worse case is not the worst case? Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book Antifragile. Specifically on page 59, I think.