Better be over-prepared than otherwise

The meeting was a day away, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. The way things were going, I felt that it was going to be a controversial one.

And despite my knowing the material well, there were gaps in my knowledge that I knew could be pried on. These were areas that I wasn’t sure would be looked at. But if looked at, would potentially derail my efforts at making a persuasive case.

I couldn’t take the risk.

With the help of my team I covered as many gaps as we could. We prepared material to be used “just in case”. Yes, 90% of these wouldn’t be used. Yes, we would prepare them anyway.

The day of the meeting was hectic. I had other priorities to attend to. But 30 minutes before it was to start, I started to prepare. It was 30 minutes I really could use for other things, but it was 30 minutes I couldn’t afford not to take.

I read through the deck I was to present; planned the sequence of events; memorised key numbers. And perhaps most importantly, reworded what may have been construed as personal attacks into their more politically correct forms: no one was at fault but the process.

The meeting itself went reasonably well. Sure, the controversy didn’t disappear because of the added prep work, but the discussions were good; the outcome clear.

And in case you were wondering, yes, much of the “just in case” material was used in the end.

The preparation paid off.

It would have been such a disaster otherwise.

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“Why do you run so much?” she asked me. “Are you running too much?”

“I don’t know,” I answered. “Maybe. But better I run more than less. Better I be more prepared, than otherwise.”

(Singapore Marathon’s just 3 months away now. Exciting!)