Get Smart!: How to Think and Act Like the Most Successful and Highest-Paid People in Every Field
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| Develop a Fallback Plan Great generals plan to win every battle, but they prepare for defeat if it occurs. They set aside reserves of men and ammunition. They develop a contingency or fallback plan. They know that an orderly retreat is better than a complete rout. Never bet the ranch on anew course of action. Only take calculated risks—risks that you can bounce back from if they fail completely. Hope is not a strategy it is a formula for disaster. In business, the new product idea of build it and they will come is almost a surefire recipe for failure. STEP N INE: Take action on your idea. Move fast. Develop a sense of urgency. Do something. Do anything. But get on with it, as quickly as possible. General George Patton said, A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week.” Apply this systematic method of problem solving to each problem or obstacle your business faces, disciplining yourself to follow the recipe for superior thinking. You will be happily surprised at the result. Solution-Focused Thinking Versus Problem-Focused Thinking The true mark of your intelligence and your creativity is your ability to solve problems and make decisions. Whatever title is written on your business card, your true job description is problem solver From the time you start work in the morning until the time you quit for the day, and afterward, you are solving problems, small and large, all day long. General Colin Powell said, Leadership is the ability to solve problems.” Success is the ability to solve problems as well. A goal or an objective unachieved, in any area, is merely a problem unsolved. This is why a systematic approach to problem solving, one that works at a higher level and more consistently, is absolutely vital for you to achieve the maximum success that is possible for you. Think About Solutions As it happens, successful people think about solutions most of the time. Unsuccessful people think about problems most of the time. Successful people think about how to solve the problem or remove the obstacle and what actions can betaken immediately to improve the situation. Unsuccessful people think about the problem and who is to blame. They allow themselves to become angry and upset about a problem that occurs or an obstacle that arises. This triggers negative thinking, anger, and the search for the guilty party—“Who did it But it does nothing to help them find the solution. |