Change your hat - take a minute to put your black hat on and think about “what can go wrong?”
“Black Hat Thinking” - this has been around for ages. “The Six Thinking Hats” - Edward De Bono, published 1985. The black hat is for “what can go wrong, what is bad?” thinking.
The colour black tends to represent bad things. So the black hat is the one you wear when you think about ‘what can go working?’
When I wasn’t in charge and just an inexperienced employee, I used to get a broom out and sweep these kinds of things under that carpet. So my “big broom and carpet” thinking was my thinking tool back then I suppose.
Then I noticed this interesting trend - I would envisage mistakes happening in advance and then, guess what, it would happen!
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”
“A stitch in time, saves nine”
“Prevention is better than cure”
“When you choose to gamble, you do so at your own risk”
Everyone has heard these sayings. You can’t say you haven’t been warned! And yet, how often do we all ignore the warning signs or gut feel that disaster is impending.
Now, I believe in Murphy’s law - if it can go wrong, it will go wrong… AND if you’re prepared, Murphy will be on my side...
Take an umbrella, it won’t rain that day
Make sure you have a spare tyre, you won’t get a flat
Take a photocopy of your passport with you when you travel, you won’t lose your passport
...and so on...
The thing is when you are doing something new, you haven't experienced what can go wrong, so you can’t know what to do to avoid problems. Instead, you need to use your imagination, previous experience or talk to someone that does have the ‘tacit knowledge’ from experience of the same scenario (a mentor) to be properly prepared.
“Forewarned is forearmed”
Put your black hat on, start making some notes about what can go wrong. If you lack ideas, phone a friend (mentor), google search or chat to a staff member. “How do we set ourselves up for success?” See what they know from their previous experience with you and before they worked with you. What can they sense could be an issue?
Avoid problems wherever you can. Avoid wasting time, money and energy. Use a bit of ‘black hat thinking’ when you’re organising your business. Get Murphy on side!
“A dollar saved is a dollar earned.”
