Master The MomentTM

Randy Rose, CEO Schwabe

To master the moment you have to stay on offense, and do your best to avoid getting stuck in reactive mode. This means spending time trying to predict problems that might lie ahead, and preventing them from occurring in the first place. At the very least, you need to spot problems early and head them off before they develop into big messes that eat up most of your time. As Randy Rose puts it, “you need to develop an intuition about what’s going on under the surface, or about what’s lurking around the corner. If you don’t develop a feel for this, you can’t be effective.”

The CEO of Schwabe North America (and former COO of Energizer Holdings) shared with me some of the practices he uses to help him think about the future. “You may have heard the idea of always asking yourself ’what’s next?’ Well I have a variation on that theme: ’what’s next after what’s next?’ In my opinion, thinking like that allows all people who have a stake in where we’re going to prepare themselves accordingly and to work that into their own plans. Thinking about what’s next after what’s next and communicating that to stakeholders has the additional advantage of making people feel involved.”

“I actually go so far as to write the annual report for the future,” Randy said. “I write in the future annual report what we will have accomplished to get from wherever we are now to wherever we want to be. I also include in the report projections for the future - that is, what’s next after what’s next. This sets direction and minimizes fears people might have about our intentions.”

You can apply these same ideas to both your professional life and your personal life. Those people who have a stake in whatever it is you’re doing are likely to have an opinion on your direction, whether they be business partners, or family members and close friends with an interest in your personal well being. If what you’re doing is inconsistent with what they want, you need to be aware that this could spell trouble up ahead.

Along those lines, Randy Rose advises, “if you go forward with something without first having an idea how the other stakeholders feel, you may run into trouble later. Even if you ultimately don’t agree with the other stakeholders - and this will frequently be the case - let them air their ideas. Maybe they will change your opinion. If they don’t change your opinion, go forward with your instinct. At least you know where the other parties stand and you will have given them a chance to state their case.”

You can take this a step further and go beyond stakeholders. Don’t be afraid to ask other people who might hold information you need. Generally getting around and talking to people is a good way to spot issues early. If you invest time in engaging people in casual conversation, they tend to point out potential problems you might not see otherwise.

No matter what you’re doing, there’s a good chance somebody you know has already done it before. “The more you take the time to seek out advice, the more you gain the benefit of somebody else’s experience,” says Randy.

We all do this to some extent already. But if you can make it a regular habit to go out and bounce ideas off stakeholders and seek advice, you’ll stand a greater chance of finding out what’s going on under the surface, or about what’s lurking around the corner.

Why not get other people to help you spot trouble up ahead?

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All text copyright © Pat Brans, 2009, 2010, 2011.