Small change: prepare for things to go wrong

First published on
Nov 22, 2022
we’re confused about strategy
Writing Small Change Business development Difficult conversations Getting change done High performing teams Leadership development 2022

Mike Tyson famously said that “everyone has a strategy until they get punched in the mouth”. This is true in change: even the best laid plans have a habit of being disrupted by what Harold MacMillan (a fighter of a different sort) called “events, dear boy, events”.

It is remarkable how few change leaders plan for this eventuality. Or build the emotional resilience to be able to deal with it when it occurs. This weakens both strategic integrity and people’s willingness and ability to keep going in challenging times.

The good news? With a bit of foresight it’s easy to bake the right coping strategies into both strategic planning and team management. After all, events will happen, but most of them will be repeat occurrences. The past is a teacher — if you allow it to be.

Something to consider: what can — and probably will — go wrong with our plans?

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