Great workers are often positive but realistic. Such people start by clarifying the real results they want to achieve. They then aim:
To clarify the strategies they can follow to give themselves the greatest chance of success;
To stress test the strategies by simulating the possible things that could happen when translating these into action;
To implement the strategies and do their best to achieve the picture of success.
Such people take this approach when building flood defences, designing space rockets, leading a company, rehearsing difficult conversations with employees or other activities.
Some people call this the pre-mortem stage as opposed to the post-mortem stage. They aim to see how something will react when subjected to certain conditions.
The stress testing part is crucial. Such people see how their chosen strategies will work in every conceivable scenario. Sometimes this leads to confirming the strategies. Sometime it leads to making adjustments. Sometime it leads to starting again.
People then do the work. Keeping a constant eye on what is happening, they build on what is working and find solutions to challenges. People keep going until they achieve success.
Looking at your own life, can you recall a time when you stress tested the strategies you planned to follow? You may have done this when preparing for an interview, leading a project, tackling a tough challenge or doing another activity.
What did you do to stress test the strategies? How did you clarify the potential difficulties? How did you make plans to deal with the challenges? What happened as a result of taking these steps?
Stress Testing Can Lay The
Foundations For Achieving Success
Some organisations refuse to explore challenging scenarios. When problems occur, they try to pass the buck or say that such events were unpredictable. It also often emerges that the leaders had failed to take heed of previous warnings.
Great organisations stress test their chosen strategies before implementing these fully. Some may also invite outsiders to give a view and think the unthinkable.
McKinsey & Company have produced an excellent article on this theme called Have you tested your strategy lately? Below are just a few of the questions they ask.
Does your strategy beat the market? Does it tap a true source of advantage? Does it embrace uncertainty? Does it balance commitment and flexibility? Is your strategy contaminated by any bias? Is there conviction to act on your strategy? Have you translated it into an action plan?
Many years ago I worked with a yachting team that took part in a round-the-world race. After answering questions similar to those listed above, they then practiced implementing the strategies.
The crew began by getting the basics right in icy but relatively good conditions. They then kept increasing the difficulties by, for example, rescuing a man who had fallen overboard.
Wasn’t that risky? Certainly it was dangerous. But it would have been more dangerous to set out without knowing how to rescue somebody in a heavy sea.
Great teams settle on their chosen strategies and get the basics right. They then increase the stress levels to ensure they can perform brilliantly when under pressure.
Looking at my own work with organisations, we have often clarified the strategies we can follow to give ourselves the greatest chance of success. Looking ahead, we have then explored the following themes.
Are we serious?
Bearing in mind the pluses and minuses involved, do we really want to implement the strategies? If so, how can we build on the pluses and minimise the minuses?
What are the challenges we may face? How can we prevent some of the difficulties happening? How can we manage them if they do happen?
Let’s take a reality check. On a scale 0 – 10, how high would we rate our chances of achieving success?
What can we do to maintain or improve the rating? What else can we do to give ourselves the greatest chance of success?
Great individual workers ask similar questions. They then rehearse how to translate the strategies into action. Sometimes they do this in real conditions; sometimes they may use mental rehearsal. Whatever method they use, however, they aim to rise to occasion when it matters.
Let’s return to your own life and work. Looking to the future, can you think of a situation when it would be useful to stress test your strategies?
This could be a personal or professional situation. You may be aiming to take an exam, rebuild your team, deal with a potential crisis, have a difficult conversation with people or do another activity.
Imagine you have settled on the key strategies you can follow to achieve success. How can you stress test these strategies? How can you, if appropriate, make the necessary adjustments? How can you then translate these strategies into action?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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