have a dream, bring a lifeboat

Wow, do I ever strongly (ahem) encourage my clients to stay on top of their content production...particularly when said content is a critical path to business development and execution of a strategic communications plan. I can see the forest, I can see the trees. I know how to help and guide. But you, gentle client, have to do the work. And then I go and do a pretty bad job at keeping up on it myself. For all of the very same reasons that my clients struggle. Life, business, busy-ness, summer, visitors, new clients, old clients. I could go on, but this is nothing new to any of us. And content development is just one of those areas that can fall off our radars. So, what's a consultant to do?

I guess I'm trying to put myself in your shoes, figurative client. And think about how I might help you through this facet of your business. There are so many "knowns" out there, so many reasonably expectable bumps in the road. And my general answer to this conundrum is two-fold:

1. Have a plan.
   
2. Anticipate the bumps.
   

You don't get into a car without fastening your seatbelt, right? You (theoretically) pay attention to the flight attendant's safety demo. If you have an allergy to bee stings, you don't leave the house on a sultry summer's evening without your trusty Epi pen. And most of the time it happens so subconciously that you don't even consider what the plan is. Mostly that's a good thing. But in other, trickier places in our lives - like our businesses - a little more cognitive, purposeful thinking helps.

So let's start at the beginning: a plan. How many entrepreneurs start businesses without a decent business plan, marketing plan, schedule to allocate their time, etc? Most of us are guilty of this...and in more than one of those categories. For whatever reason, we believe it's better to just get started than it is to plan. And believe me when I say, I'm impatient, quick-thinking, speed-talking and an Activator. I tend to jump first and measure how high that cliff was later...and not even always then. So it's one of those places where I have to work hard to impart the importance of a plan on not only my clients, but myself as well. Without at least a general map of where you are headed, it's going to be very difficult to get there.

Then we think about the glitches. I believe contingency planning is just as important as planning those basic elements of your business. What I refuse to believe is that naming and acknowledging contingencies is the same thing as opening yourself up to defeat. I appreciate those that say "failure is not an option" because I absolutely believe in the need for setting your mental energy in the right direction. But this isn't failure I'm talking about. It's the inevitable ups and downs and twists in the road that require our sharpest thinking and creativity. And it's difficult to be thoughtful and innovative when disaster (real, imagined or whatever) is at our door. Long-term planning is for stretching, big fat hairy audacious goals. Short-term planning is for tactics and contingencies, and identifying little course corrections that might be required to navigate through tricky waters.

Laying bare our fears of failure and thoughtfully addressing the "knowns" can make the unknown little surprise events much easier to manage. We aren't in crisis mode ALL THE TIME (have you ever had a job like that? I have.). We can stay level headed, we can ask for advice and brainstorming from other smart people, and we can put some switches in place should they need to be flipped.

So give it some thought. What are the top 5 things that MIGHT happen? Are they related to money, reputation, amount of work, what? What are the worst case scenarios? How would they affect your business and what ideas do you have about mitigating those impacts? Who would you call on for help? Advice? A kick in the butt? And what might you do next time to potentially avoid this situation in the future?

Create a plan. Then find the emergency hatch so you know where to find it.