First and Smart

There are some old management jokes about innovators:

How do you spot the pioneers? They're the bodies with all of the arrows in them.

If the early bird gets the worm, what if you're the early worm?

The first mouse gets the cat. The second mouse gets the cheese.

There is, of course, no magic wisdom to these. Sometimes, it is the second mouse who gets the cat. To prepare for all contingencies would mean that you'd never act at all. When General Bedford Forrest talked about being "The fustest with the mostest," he meant the most within reason.

The one factor that may be constant is the need to challenge your enthusiasm. Rapid agreement and eagerness can cause decision makers and teams to gloss over the dangers. They trust that the product or idea will practically sell itself. They imagine all sorts of miraculous benefits arising from being the first and miss the fact that they've just turned into a test tube for their competitors. Groupthink may be present.

Setting aside a few minutes to examine the downsides is not enough. Full and vigorous debate should be required on just how things can go wrong. Is there a danger in that? Absolutely. Given time and eloquence, we may scare one another to death. And that is where an experienced leader is needed to put things in perspective and to say Go or No Go.

Fear is never absent but, like fire, it can be a valuable tool. If the decision is made to move forward, it is with the assurance that an honest evaluation of the risks was made and reasonable goals were set.