Be Prepared

M3 Monday Morning Message – No. 642, September 20, 2021

You may have noticed there have not been any M3 messages for the last several weeks. I took a brief Covid sabbatical unexpectedly and am now back in the writer’s chair. I apologize for the lack of messages and appreciate your understanding.

Be Prepared

 “Always be prepared” was the motto of the Boy Scouts of America while I was part of the club for a short period of time in my early teen years. My stint as a scout ended when I got into a fight with the Scout Master’s son (the Scout Master was our adult scout troop leader). It seemed that our leader’s son thought he was the Scout Master and bullied everyone and I apparently was not well-prepared to handle the situation and was too immature at the time to respond in a dignified way, so somehow a fight broke out resulting in being directed to the exit door never to return.

In the short time I was a scout, I may have learned the motto’s lesson to some extent, as I partially attribute my wife’s and my victorious fight against Covid to our preparedness. We have been following a regimen of daily taking vitamin D, zinc, and other supplements for well over a year and I do believe this helped our immune systems fight the virus. I also attribute much of my success as a business leader to a diligent effort to always be prepared. Be prepared for what? Well, really for just about anything that might arise. We certainly do not always know what lies around the next corner in our roles in life, but we can take steps to prepare ourselves for the various possibilities that lie ahead.

As a business we have contingency plans for a wide variety of potential major events, such as natural disasters and even wartime events should that occur. We call these plans “sustainability plans” since our goal is to ensure we can continue to operate our business effectively in the worst-case scenarios. These plans are developed with much thought and collaboration and are well-documented and tested. Taking this concept and applying it to our individual work and personal lives is something people do not often do but could significantly help in times of unexpected challenges. At a minimum, being prepared for unforeseen events can minimize their negative impact and reduce ambiguity and fear of the unknown.

Contingency planning, or being prepared for the unknown, starts with brainstorming potential events that can have a negative impact on your life and writing down key risks. Consider all the possible risks to your success and categorize them. You can then prioritize the risks based on their potential impact. Then determine what resources you have at hand or need to gather to address the risks should they become reality. Finally, document a plan with potential responses to the major risks. This may sound simple and somewhat anecdotal, but I have found that thinking through potential challenges in advance, while not my favorite thing to do, allows me to respond much better and increases my potential for a successful outcome when those challenges arise.

Maybe I at least learned one thing in my short time as a scout! It certainly was not diplomacy. Being prepared pays off. Have you developed a personal contingency plan? Give it some thought.

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

P.S. Covid caused me to lose my taste. I have started wearing plaid pants with stripped shirts! 😊

I hope you have a great week! Stay safe!

Brad

Note – the use of quotes does not imply that I agree or disagree with the views, philosophies, or beliefs of those quoted.