How Do You Prepare for an Unexpected Event?
Prepare for the unexpected

How Do You Prepare for an Unexpected Event?

"Preparing for the unexpected" is the kind of easy-sounding slogan that comes out of corporate meetings that go nowhere or "boys-only" clubs that want to fire up their members into some kind of emotional arousal by way of belonging.

In the real world the logical question is "How"? How do you exactly prepare for the kind of thing you simply cannot prepare for, either because it is so outlandish that it is unfeasible to even think about preparing for it, or because it is so unexpected that you may not even entertain it as a serious option?

How do snipers do it?

How did Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger do it when he had just 208 seconds to make a critical, life and death decision for which he'd never practised?

These are the questions that should haunt us when we get the downtime to think on our own. Preparing for the unexpected may see difficult at first. The effort required monumental. But that is an attitude of perspective.

If we think of the "unexpected" as highly unlikely then preparing for something we have never encountered before which may never happen appears as a monumental waste of effort spent on something which may, indeed, never happen. But if we think of the unexpected as the moment when "life and death" will literally be on the line, when everything we have worked for, struggled for, aimed at, will be defined; then preparing for the unexpected is a safeguard we put in place. One which can, really, have no price tag.

This is as true of business as it is of life. How do you do it, exactly? As Capt. Sullenberger says, you need to get comfortable with discomfort. It's a skillset. And a mindset. And it leads to exceptional outcomes when least expected. And you should be practising it now.

Gerald Wade Varney

Director Editor Photographer Artist

4y

Tell  it like it is Zara

Gina Fiedel

Owner of Fat Eyes Web Development

4y

This brings up so much for me. I've been preparing and watching for Rattlesnakes since early Spring because it was predicted there would be a lot this season. When I finally encountered one this week that was ready to strike and I was too close, I felt like it was brand new- something I really couldn't have anticipated. My response or its action.  When my husband and his brothers trying to save our niece when she was dying suddenly on a remote beach. When my father was dying for two years, we knew it was coming but I had no idea what it would be like when he did. There was no way to prepare for what was to come. Wildfires in our neighborhood are the same. The pretty big earthquake this summer that rolled us and the house. Illness and any sort of life difficulties.  I feel it comes down to a lifetime of introspection and a practice of being aware. Knowing yourself well enough to trust your responses. Having responses that originate in solid person-ness. Having a core. All that stuff that provides ballast. 

Coach G Moore

Brand Ambassador at Whataburger1070

4y

#TheOneYouDontSee Happy Friday David Amerland per "Nike" ...

Zara Altair

Pioneering the Intersection of AI and Content Strategy | Driving Meaningful Engagements & Business Growth

4y

I've lived in earthquake country all my life. Earthquake preparedness is a skill. I lived on a boat for 4.5 years. Being on the water, even at anchor or tied up in the harbor is still life and death so be prepared for anything.  I don't know how to prepare for the kind of thing you simply cannot prepare for, either because it is so outlandish that it is unfeasible to even think about preparing for it, or because it is so unexpected that you may not even entertain it as a serious option. That's what I call life "street smarts."  :) 

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