3 Ideas for Seeing Challenges Coming Before They Become Challenges

For some of us, the easiest challenge to face may be the crisis. A crisis can be difficult, but it’s extreme and for some of us, facing extreme is easier than dealing with mundane. In a crisis, everything else takes a back seat: keeping up with industry changes, expense reports and emails can all wait. Managing a crisis can be like a temporary "get of jail" pass, nothing is more important than managing that crisis. And often, everyone in your circle is in it together - there's energy in that. 

Successfully tackling a crisis can also be gratifying, making for great “war stories” and sometimes even making careers. But what about avoiding crisis? How important is that? CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

Successfully managing a crisis is critical but failing to manage a crisis is potentially terminal, but if we don't try to see and avoid the challenges (and crisis) ahead, it’s not just bad business, in some cases it’s a breach of duty. Being able to manage a crisis well is amazing skill, it's a must. What about the silent, often un-celebrated skill of see ahead and taking action? What about foresight? 

The discipline of seeing challenges coming before they become challenges gives an organization
- and an individual - something vital: strength.
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​If we did a poll, my guess would be that most of us agree foresight is a skill that we should develop. I'll raise the stakes: foresight is actually a skill that we must develop... that is, if we want to stay on mission and thrive. Effective foresight helps you ​save time, money, and, at times, lives.

With that in mind, let's explore three simple steps to help us see a challenge coming. For an example, I'll look at foresight through the lens of personal safety, but these steps have a much broader application - from sales to business intel to mitigating external threats to an organization:
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1. ​Mind the Goal - Keep the mission in mind and the reason foresight is important. Why are you interested in seeing the challenging coming? What is it you want (or don’t want) to happen? If you miss seeing the challenge coming, what does moving to crisis management cost you?​
2. Practice “Normology” - This is simply the study of normal. One of the easiest ways to see abnormal (or unique) behaviors, is to pay close attention to and learn what’s normal. When you’re intentional about this habit, abnormal simply tends to pop out. 
3. Apply Context - Most behaviors have the ability to indicate more than one thing. For example, making a fist can be an indicator someone is anxious, it can be a response to being cold… oh, and it can also be an indicator of an imminent punch. Applying context improves the quality of behavioral indicators. 

To illustrate these steps, I'll offer my personal experience:
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1. My goal is usually the safety of those around me and the opportunity to positively impact other people.​
2. To support that goal, I’m intentional about noticing the people around me and practicing normology. I do it to study how organizations and groups function and also to look for opportunities to impact people. Are they sad, rushed, excited? Are they noticing others around them? How do they react when I make eye contact? This gives me a lot of information about what’s normal.
3. It also helps me to apply context. When I see something stand out, something abnormal, I consider the situation, what they’re dealing with, what others are doing around them; generally taking note of whats going on.

All that "work" gives me an idea of where behaviors may be headed. And I say "work" because as you can see, there's nothing extraordinary. The steps aren't actually separate actions. They work together and off of each other leading to foresight - seeing the challenge coming before it becomes a challenge. It’s a simple process or skill, and it can be quite easy.

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What’s not easy is to develop this skill into a discipline.
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Distractions, losing sight of your goals, and awareness fatigue are some of the challenges you might face when you’re trying to see challenges come your way.

I started by saying for some of us, the easiest challenge to face may be the crisis. On the flip side, one of the most difficult challenge to face is the aftermath of an avoidable crisis. Knowing you could have done more, or should have, is something many never forget. And, if you do the work to develop the discipline of foresight, it's a challenge you should never have to meet. 
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Jesse Stanley, CPP, CFI has been helping others protect what's most important to them for more than thirty years. As founder and Principal of Strongside Principles, he gets to serve organizations, big and small, by helping them to win by impacting people and shaping events.