Cool It

This weekend I was at a retreat for the board of an organization of which I am a member.  The name or type of the organization doesn't matter.  For me, it feels like Groundhog Day, or maybe Fifty First Dates.  I feel like that a lot, as you may have noticed from prior posts.  In both of those movies, the major characters get to go through the same day over and over, or at least think they do.  So, we sit down in the meeting, we start talking about the organization's plans for the future, the ambitious plans for the future are being thrown out hot and heavy.....and I point out the weaknesses in the plans, the worry that we're biting off more than we can chew - in short, I'm the bucket of cold water.  There are plenty of other buckets with ice, but I seem to throw mine first - always.  What's funny is that I am not by nature a pessimist.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  So why is this my role in every organization?   I really don't know.  It doesn't make me popular, that's for sure.  I guess it's because I'm a worrier.  (Didn't see that one coming, did you?)  I love grand plans, but I hate forging ahead without knowing the terrain and the pitfalls.  I like knowing what could go wrong, so I can plan so it won't.  I don't like being disappointed, so planning for the worst when I know it probably won't happen means I am usually pleasantly surprised.  I guess I want everyone else to be prepared as well.  Just wish they understood that's what I'm doing.  Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.  At least that way, you're not caught off-guard.  I know that attitude helps us and our clients be prepared here in the Trenches; it just doesn't make us a lot of friends.