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If Only…
By Ron | September 3, 2009
Only a few times does one look back and say, “Wow, I would not have changed a thing.” The truth is, on the other side of major events, we would do well to stop and contemplate what we did well and what we would do differently when facing the same situation. In our organization, we do that after action reports with all major product launches and events. We dish out generous portions of both accolades and critiques to insure the next time we will be better, stronger, and savvier with anticipation of the unknown. Most times it is the “unknown” that rears its ugly head and bites one in the most vulnerable place.
Policies, while a pain and sometimes more bureaucratic, are meant to serve the whole for the better of the whole. When this works well, catastrophes are less frequent. The best result of being prepared for a catastrophe is that when it comes it feels more like a problem or a bump in the road. Ask anyone from Florida and they will tell you to prepare for the hurricane and hope it arrives as a tropical storm or depression.
Business and ministry can learn from this mentality. Prepare for the storms and when they arrive you will not be caught off guard. The worst is to look back and say, “If only . . .” leaving you no confidence to move forward with a similar initiative. Last week, I got the chance to walk through Dealey Plaza, the site of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The Texas Book Depository is where Lee Harvey Oswald, from the sixth floor, allegedly shot the President while his motorcade passed in the street below. The Sixth Floor Museum now occupies that space with time lines and exhibits about the events of that fatal day.
The weird thoughts I have often get me in trouble. As I approached the door to the Sixth Floor Museum, I read the signs on the door (pictured above) and said, “If only they had these signs on November 22, 1963, this all might have been prevented.” Then the following thoughts came to mind: “If we knew today what we will know tomorrow, how different our policies and plans might be.”
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