The phrase for the week is "Contingency
Planning”
When I was growing up in Chicago, I loved to play
chess. What I loved most about the game
was trying to predict what moves my opponent might make and what I would do in
response. I’m too impatient for chess
now, but I have used those skills throughout my career and am confident it has been
the foundation for much of my planning success stories. I call it contingency planning but the formal
term is scenario planning.
It is so much a part of how I approach my personal and
professional life, I rarely realize I’ve engaged this tool. In order for this level of planning to work,
you must be committed to the amount of time it takes to sift through all the
possible outcomes or scenarios. Often, a
person will only plan for the outcome they want and when things go awry, they
are back to square one--researching, planning, etc. Often there is a mourning period before they
are able to regroup to begin again. Meanwhile,
I am quickly moving from plan A to B and maybe even to C without breaking a
sweat.
When considering all the possible outcomes and what your
response or action may be, it is equally important to consider all possible
perspectives, beliefs and any wildcards, no matter how absurd it may seem at
the time. Remember, the main reason for
going through this exercise is to strengthen your decision making and reduce
stress. This forces you to see the
bigger picture and what is possible.
What I also love about this process, is that it generates creativity and
innovation. Because the sky is the
limit, so are the solutions!
When planning anything, anticipate all possible outcomes
and prepare for a variety of scenarios.
Identify a personal or professional activity or project
that is coming up in the next couple of weeks or more and engage contingency
planning.
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