Your plan and the way things turn out rarely resemble each other. What you think you deserve is rarely what you’ll get. Yet we constantly deny this fact and are repeatedly shocked by the events of the world.
Your world is ruled by external factors. Promises are not kept. You don’t always get what is rightfully yours, even if you earned it. The only guarantee is that the “chaos” of the world, will disrupt your expectations.
Pre-mortem :
A CEO called her staff into the conference room on the eve of the launch of a major new initiative. She calls the meeting to attention and begins:
“I have bad news. The project has failed spectacularly. Tell me what went wrong?”
The CEO is forcing an exercise typically performed hindsight – in advance. She is using a technique designed by psychologist Gary Klein known as pre-mortem.
Constructing a conversation of:
What if…
Then I will…
What if…
Instead I will…
What if…
No problem, we can always…
And in the case where nothing could be done: manage expectations. Because, sometimes the only answer to “what if…happens” is: “Yes, it will suck but we will be OK.”
