Friday, September 29, 2017

Twenty-five years ago last weekend one of the finest films of the early 90’s was released: Captain Ron. The good Captain taught me the difference between gorillas and guerillas, the importance of incentives and the name of the island right next to St. Croix (Ted’s). Yet his most valuable bit of wisdom was that “If anything is going to happen, it’s going to happen out there.”

Cap’n Ron understood what Prussian military strategist Helmuth von Moltke the Elder famously observed in 1861: “No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.” Equipment fails, people behave unexpectedly and even the best plans overlook important information which in hindsight seems self-evident. This is why software development approaches like rapid-application development (which gets product “out there” faster) continue to gain favor over the conventional waterfall method.  And it’s why you as a leader need to be adept at responding, modifying and adapting when your strategy doesn’t unfold as expected.

So bon voyage, smooth sailing, and have fun. Because, as another favorite pirate of mine once advised, “It’s a jungle out there, kiddies. Have a very fruitful day.”

Factual Friday brought to you by Chad Harvey & The Result Center