Boxed In

A key strategy for any leader is to avoid getting trapped in a situation where all of the options are bad.

This requires the ability to anticipate what will happen five or ten moves ahead and not simply one or two. The challenge to those who would avoid the trap is that followers and organizations have a strong bias for the immediate. Talking about what may happen at a distant point over the horizon can be easily derided as alarmist or fuzzy. Focusing on the immediate surroundings seems so much more realistic.

Fueling this short-sightedness is the idea that even if trouble arrives, a quick scan will reveal an attractive solution. That pleasant deliverance, however, isn't always available. At some dismal decision points you are given the choices of Terrible or Worse. No matter how hard you search, no other options emerge.

Avoiding that stage may not always be possible, but it is certainly desirable. Getting others to think ahead requires a great deal of nudging and a tireless use of "And then?"