Navigating Errors or Setbacks, Are You Prepared?
Few people plan for navigating errors or setbacks, should you? Is that what some people call a plan B?
Mistakes happen, at least sometimes.
The recent launch by Virgin Galactic propelled its founder Richard Branson into space. What were the errors? Did no errors occur?
Preparedness accounts for much of the success that we witness.
When we watch an Olympic athlete, we often see a flawless performance. They might make things look easy.
It is true in many sports, many hobbies, and even in professional careers.
Errors are often fixed, overcome, or worked around. It may mean that a plan exists for some adjustment along the way, or perhaps past experience is used as a tool in an attempt to not make the same error twice.
Navigating Errors
Some might suggest that your life or career is a constant work in progress. Things happen, good luck as well as bad luck, seized opportunities and those that are missed.
Should you spend time planning for your reaction to errors, near misses, or other types of setbacks?
Does having a plan for navigating errors create a sort of self-fulfilled prophecy by creating a plan to fail?
There are people who argue against a plan B. There are others that may have a plan B, C, and even D.
In other cases, there may not be a secondary option. The only possibilities are complete success or complete failure. The options are only binary, one or the other, and no in-betweens.
Creating a plan to navigate errors doesn’t mean that you’ve created a plan to fail. It may mean that you’ve created a plan to succeed despite all odds.
An error caught early may prevent a catastrophic failure. Backup systems may keep things going. Building a form of redundancy may be the lifeline to support future success.
Insurance sometimes feels wasteful when not used.
That doesn’t mean that it is never a good idea.
-DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
