Welcome Professionals…

…I am sure you have heard of Murphy’s law, often cited as “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”

Many smart people have reviewed the so called law and tried to explain or refute it. I won’t dive into that. It does not matter to me if it is true or false. But there have been situation when I thought that Murphy’s law applies to me. And that sucks.

Murphy’s law is my personal reminder that some things will go wrong – sooner or later. It is just a matter of statistics. If these errors occur during times when everything counts, when everything is on the edge, they become a great nuisance. Just before the important board meeting presentation the printer runs out of toner. Just before the crucial client meeting I spill tomato sauce on my white dress shirt. This is the time when I might complain about Murphy’s law.

Instead of worrying about the universal injustice, though, it is much better to have alternative plans in place.

As top management consultants, we like to be prepared for these statistical errors in order to stay cold-blooded when everything counts. Good examples of preparation are:

• keeping a spare suit, shirt and tie in a closet in the office
• installing an alternative printer to switch if one runs out of toner
• keeping some money in the briefcase/jacket/office drawer separate from the wallet
• always reviewing two alternative routes to the client
• keeping a power pack for the phone
• and so on…

What are your tricks? Let me know. And don’t worry about Murphy’s law ever again.

Malte

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