Four careers over 50+ years. USMC, engineering, consulting, education. Past twenty years have focused on helping leaders become and remain relevant during times of change.
MindPrep 283 – Bets on the Future
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Reader Every decision you make today is a bet about the future. Sometimes the future is near and sometimes the future is far. Sometimes our decisions produce that results we want; and sometimes they don’t. It’s always “the present” when you decide, but every decision plays out in the future. If you want to make better decisions in the “here and now” you should do two things: 1. (Re)confirm your assumptions underlying the decision. 2. Think about the unintended consequences of the decision, not just what you want to happen. Sometimes the unintended consequences are good, sometimes not-so-good. Question: Regarding a pending decision, what assumptions must be true for you to succeed? And, what could go wrong? Happy New Year, Bill |
Bill @ MindPrep
Four careers over 50+ years. USMC, engineering, consulting, education. Past twenty years have focused on helping leaders become and remain relevant during times of change.
Reader The last issue of MindPrep Reflections introduced the general framework for an upcoming workshop focused on “intercepting the future,” which is built around answering four fundamental questions. They are: What’s going on? >>> Scan the larger environment. Where is the future taking us? >>> Guess and build hypotheses. Can we intercept the future? >>> Decide on bets about the future. How are we doing? >>> Act and adapt. Answering the first question requires that you actively scan the...
Reader, Can you predict the future? NO ….. Can you anticipate the future? YES Can you eliminate surprises? NO ….. Can you reduce the impact? YES The past few issues of MindPrep Reflections have ended with suggestions about a “forthcoming” workshop focused on intercepting the future. Here are my thoughts. This workshop will explore tools and techniques you can use to better prepare your company and yourself for the inevitable surprises of “the future.” It is not intended to develop...
Reader The last issue of MindPrep Reflections explored the concept of wicked world dragons and gave some examples of these dragons over the past 200 years. I ended that issue with a promise to look at the need to learn from the past, deal with the present, and intercept the future when considering the dragons in your world. Why? Learning from the past builds hindsight (wisdom from the past). Dealing with the present builds insight (clarity about the present). Intercepting the future requires...