"t-power #3  Uncovering Cautionary Thinking"  (it's All About The Thinking)

Cautionary thinking allows you to say, "Whoa Nellie. Let's take a deep breath and see what worries us." What you are trying to achieve threatens your very survival --- you personally, your professional stature, and your company. You need to think carefully about implications of your plans and actions. Failing to perform cautionary thinking leads you into "a world of trouble." Quite simply, the unexpected gets you where it hurts.

STARTING POINT  Again, be certain you have selected your thinking-focus. It could be the same focus you used with informational and emotional thinking. However, because you are learning how to think and how to CHANGE your thinking, you are free to choose another focus.

Many people approach cautionary thinking timidly. They begin by thinking about what do we need to do to avoid failing in this endeavor. They look for obstacles and hurdles to overcome. Then, they work systematically toward the future to examine each place that requires being careful. It works.

For me, I begin with the farthest possibility. How do I need to plan for extraordinary success? If the vision is clear, then I need to picture the greatest success I desire. With this approach, I move as far into the future as I am comfortable. Then, I work backwards with my cautionary thinking.

WHAT TO CONSIDER  Certainly, none of knows the future. Certainly, none of likes to fail. However, most of us have had many chances to experience failure. Some of us are even experts at dealing with failure. You know the routine  "pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on." However, if you start your thinking at success, gigantic success, OPRAH Effect success, you will most likely detect everything that could make you cautionary.

People First  As always, questions are your friend. People are always my first concern. I want to know how gigantic success will affect me, my family, the people I hold dear. What changes will I confront? What changes will increased income pose? What changes will decreased-demands-on-my-time create? What changes will success create for my value system?

Company Second  After I finish my thinking about the people, I move to my company. With gigantic success, for what does the company, its people, need to prepare. How will this success change our company vision? What values are threatened? What new policies must be established? How will success change our customer relationships?

Planning Third  When I know what is at stake with the people and the company and when I believe I have all of the "be careful signs" on the exploratory table, I can then design forward to the future. I take each "caution" and explore it for the problems it will create, the obstacles it will present, the difficulties it will produce, and the dangers it will summon. Sometimes working through this "caution" analysis requires considerable time. Yet, as you work through the "cautions," watch to see how many of the cautions you might have missed had you thought in the traditional manner of preventing failure.

Slowly, the design or map of all the things I expect to encounter in achieving my desired vision of the future, my gigantic success, emerges. I see the sequencing. I see the relationships among the cautions. I see how the dots are connected. I understand the risks. I even know if the phone system can handle the success. I now have a complete picture of what I and my company must deal with in preparation for the success we anticipate.

IN THE END  Cautionary thinking is the most important of all the thinking de Bono explains. For this thinking, maybe because it springs from survival thinking, de Bono assigns Black Hat status. In art, the color black emerges when all other colors are combined  maybe de Bono had that in mind as well. As the Black Hat sits more and more comfortably on your head, share your learning and understanding with others. Caution, when acknowledged and dealt with, enables greater success. Plan for gigantic success.

By: Virginia McBride

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Virginia L. McBride, The Haven Maven Founder, EPROW Images Creator, "IT'S ALL ABOUT THE THINKING" Virginia builds personalized "thinking environments" to strengthen innovative thought. Working with EPROW Images, clients identify what worries them. Caution, when acknowledged and dealt with, enables greater success. To qualify for a free 30-minute consultation, submit a "pitch" through EPROW's PAPPY program => www.eprowimages.com