One possibility in a sea of many
“Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.”
Excellent article from Farnam Street that is quite timely to hit my reading queue given that I’m currently neck-deep in a go-to-market plan, and the 2021 Techstars Atlanta class has just kicked off.
I’m a rational optimist and for years I thought that 1) others saw the plethora of potential outcomes that I did, and 2) others’ tolerance for friction and failure was the same as mine.
Those blind spots led to poor communication from myself, and even hiring the wrong people… those whose “tolerance” for friction and failure was not at the required level for a startup.
This was the key quote from the article…
There are no magic bullets for the complicated challenges facing society. There is only hard work, planning for the wide spectrum of human behavior, adjusting to changing conditions, and perseverance.
Expecting a variety of outcomes is one thing, but the struggle throughout the process is the a completely different ballgame.
Some people, whether by nature, nurture, or ambition, may be great people, but not the right teammates for those tackling complicated and complex issues.
Be mindful in planning, be careful in hiring, be convicted about your vision.
Other highlights…
“There’s nothing wrong with hoping for the best. But the best-case scenario is rarely the one that comes to pass. Being realistic about what is likely to happen positions you for a range of possible outcomes and gives you peace of mind.”
“having some degree of optimism is necessary for trying anything new. If we weren’t overconfident, we’d never have the guts to do something as risky and unlikely to succeed as starting a business, entering a new relationship, or sending that cold email.”
“When you look back over history, we rarely find best-case outcomes.”
“The more complicated a situation, the more people it involves, the more variables and dependencies that exist, the more it’s unlikely that it’s all going to work out.”
“There are many possible outcomes for any given endeavor and only one that we consider the best case.”
“Sometimes, too, when the worst-case scenario happens, it’s actually a huge relief. We realize it’s not all bad, we didn’t die, and we can manage if it happens again.”