Today’s blog is by guest contributor Mona Reiser who brings many years of Supply Chain, Customer Service, Consulting Experience and Entrepreneurship.
This BC comic strip has always been a favorite of mine. I think back to many of the projects I have been a part of whether as a member of the team or as a leader of the team. The motto during those times would likely be more along the following: “plan for success and don’t hope for failure.”
Looking back over the many years of being involved in corporate, entrepreneurship or self-employment roles, I saw the relevancy of this comic and the messaging it shared. Although this motto does seem to start from a place of negativity: “hope vs plan ” for success and “plan vs minimize/eliminate” failure, there is relevance to BC at least planning for potential failure by placing the mattress where he did.
Looking at this with a more positive spin, the thought starters could be labeled “what if the project does not deliver the intended result or what could be potential downsides?” This is certainly a more productive way to view it than failure! Planning for a downside and managing risks can serve as the catalysts to help propel a project to success.