— To follow is a bullet of wisdom on leadership. It comes from Tom’s rifle, named Shot, who has seen it all. You’ll get the drift by clicking Blog in the menu above. —
WHY “PACK” A PISTOL? Well, for law-abiding folk, it’s to be prepared for trouble. You know, in case something untoward occurs, and you need to take desperate measures. There certainly were many times when I, as the “farm rifle,” was pressed into service when there was no other way. I saw the value of being prepared.
Preparation for trouble: potential problem analysis. You might call it contingency planning or advance mitigation, but whatever you call it, you better have two features or you will sometime be up the creek without a paddle—know what I mean. They are preventive measures and contingent actions. The former are taken to head off trouble; the latter are developed to minimize trouble if it shows up. If you want to make sure a plan will work, think through potential problems for each step, then ask, “how can they be prevented?” and, “how can we minimize them if they surface?” Pack preparation.