What If THE PLAN isn't working for you!

The Q Mantra for Success… For your eyes only!
*In The World Is Not Enough , Q reveals his plan to retire. Bond is saddened at the prospect. Q signs off with his famous "Now pay attention, 007," and then offers some words of advice;

"Q: "I've always tried to teach you two things: First, never let them see you bleed"

Bond: "And second?"

Q: "Always have an escape plan".*

I think Commander James Bond never really took that advice seriously. Escape is always a spectacular afterthought for the self-confident spy, aided by Q's life saver gadgets.

But that also made me think about the times when my bonus was ruined by the unexpected. The times when I was unprepared... Wouldn’t it be better if I were to heed Q’s advice? Have an “escape plan” ready to start with!

Easier said than done, you say — drawing from your personal experience! Right.

Still staying with the Bond franchise (by now I am hoping you have seen some of the movies), you might have also noticed how Q always arms 007 with more than a few of his get-away gadgets. Clearly, Q goes strictly by Murphy's** law that postulates — “If anything can go wrong, it will”.

Again, nothing new there, you say! Anything can go wrong and it does so routinely. Success cannot be taken for granted. OK, I get that too!

And yet, our future still ends up tagged to rigid business plans year after year, with drawn-in-sand expectations.

Sound familiar? A recent case in point — the ill-fated Spanish title defence during the FIFA World Cup 2014. For the Spaniards, “Tiki-taka” play was the plan. The only plan — even though they kept losing ground, match after match! Even champions can miss the obvious…

The Obvious Conclusion - Don't Get Stuck With A Plan, and yet...
Just following a plan, even the best laid one, is not enough. Securing the future needs much more thinking than the usual Risks & Opportunities presented on PowerPoint. The premium on insuring success has never been higher. Yet, I have rarely seen non-Technical/R&D teams spend quality time on “what if” contingency planning.

Why? Because too much time is wasted negotiating the right numbers, up the hierarchy and around the matrix. Yearly numbers, quarterly numbers, monthly numbers, weekly numbers, daily numbers — all the way down the line, right! Our preparedness usually suffers from:

1. No perceived need. We are like 007 – supremely confident! So long as we have a plan, all seems to be well….
2. Inadequate knowledge and examination of assumptions upon which numbers and plans are based
3. Not thinking through likely scenarios; also reviewing them appropriately as time goes by.

'This is not good' is perhaps what you are thinking right now. What then?

Fortune Favors The Prepared Mind
“Always have an escape plan”, said Q.

I like to put the emphasis on ‘always’. Whatever it is has to be intelligent and real time – almost a part of you. It is not another new plan that Q alludes to. He talks about a state of mind. To me, his advice is all about being aware of the percentages and knowing what the options are, at any given point in time. So, as we plunge into another annual plan excited by refreshed budgets and vision statements, I urge you to pay attention:

• Do not get blinkered by The Plan – A plan is not a commandment. Treat it as a framework. "You are close to the action and you should know better" is always the presumption. So, keep your eyes on the prize but don't forget that the game is changing all the time.
• Keep Calm and Think 'What-if' assumptions don’t work at any point. Do not let ignorance (and unnecessary constraints) make an ass*** out of you. In the end, they always ask "So, what did you do?"
• Create elbowroom to execute. If you are the boss, create options with your team — only you can do this. If you are not, be smart and ask for guidance. Keep something up your sleeve. Even 007 does that!

Keep Your Thinking Hat ON
If only we were able to live twice, wouldn’t we want our responses to be more consistent, our behaviour seem more considered, and our decisions less costly when put to test? Sure, we do. In that case,we need to be ready to do things differently when faced with the unexpected, instead of scrambling to do different things.

Most successful folk are like that. Always mentally prepared — reviewing their assumptions and exploring options. They seem to be able to handle adversity with style. Walk on water! Shoot their way out of trouble! What we often do not see is the blood, sweat and tears they put into thinking, and being ahead of the curve.

And that brings me back to the other piece of the mantra Q passed on to 007...

“First, never let them see you bleed”!

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References:
*Excerpt from Wikipedia - Q_James Bond; The World is not enough. Q is a fictional character in the James Bond films and film novelizations. He is the head of Q Branch (or later Q Division), the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service

**Murphy's Law - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_law

*** Asinus, a subgenus of Equus that includes the donkey and other asses

Pictures courtesy cinemacommentary.com, oocities.org, iamsadler.wordpress.com, craveonline.com

Graphic - keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk