5:15 AM.
Text from our daughter, Anni.
Emergency room at Magee-Womens Hospital.
Intense abdominal pain.
Two ovarian cysts.
One ruptured.
Emergency surgery.
Recovery means “NO lifting anything heavier than a milk bottle.”
She owns a business that rents furniture for weddings, corporate events and movie sets.
She not only owns it, she works in it. As in lifting furniture.
And, this past weekend, she had four weddings. Three 26-foot trucks filled with tables, chairs, bars, rugs, glasses, silverware… you get the idea.
Beth and I were called in from the “practice squad” and she was forced to find another source for delivery men with strong backs.
Not planned.
Who plans emergency surgery?
Huge challenge.
Have you noticed that business is like that?
Lots of unplanned things happen.
Murphy became famous.
Murphy’s Law originated at the same place where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947, Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. Reliability engineer, Captain Edward A. Murphy, Jr., delivered new gauges for the test equipment… and they malfunctioned. Blaming the problem on underlings, Murphy groused, “If there’s any way they can do it wrong, they will.”
It’s important to anticipate Murphy’s Law in the key areas of your business.
My best tool is the Results Clarifier™. We use BEFORE every major project, event or campaign.
In it’s simplest form, it is having everyone who is involved answer two questions:
- What outcome would make you smile ear to ear?
- What would FAA – Frustrate, Aggravate or Annoy you?
It’s the best tool to anticipate and minimize Murphy’s Law.