Be Ready For The Wrong Answer

There’s a funny commercial on TV these days. It’s a Miller Lite commercial, where a guy and his girlfriend are sitting in a bar. He’s got an arm around her and his other hand is wrapped around his beer.

She asks him if she and his dog were about to go over a cliff, who would he save; he says her. She asks the same about his mother and he gives the same answer. She then asks about his beer; he pauses, then asks how high the cliff is.

Certainly not the answer she was expecting, but the commercial points out two things that happen in life that people don’t prepare themselves for. One is asking questions where there’s only one correct answer because a different answer, which might be truthful, might also cause a lot of disruption in someone’s life. Two, the possibility that things aren’t going as well as you thought, and now you have to do something about it.

On the first, I told my wife while we were dating to never ask me a question where there might only be one correct answer because I was never going to answer it. I’ve stuck to that all these years, never falling into the trap, and, though she’s very cool about things in general, I think I’ve avoided trouble here and there along the way.

On the second, I can only think of once ever, when I was in management, when I expected an answer that I didn’t get, and wasn’t sure what to do with the answer. That’s not a bad record, I’d dare to say. I’d like to think it was because I had trained people well and thus never had any issues to worry about but that’s not the case.

Instead, I’d have to say that it’s my propensity to think of both the good and bad things that could happen as a result of things I’d put into practice, and usually if the bad thing happened, I had already reasoned out why it might happen and thus would have an idea of how to fix or alter it. I think most of us want everything to go perfectly, but also most of us don’t look at the problems that could occur and plan on how to correct them if things go that route.

I also think most managers have a sense of when things aren’t going right, and therefore won’t ask the question because they don’t want to have to deal with the problem. Of course, that usually only makes the problems worse, and harder to correct later on. History repeats itself so often that you’d think people would learn from these mistakes, but they don’t. I guess if they did I’d have nothing to write about.

Never be afraid to discover potential problems, and always be prepared for an answer you’re not hoping to hear. When it comes to business, you can’t afford to “not” ask those questions you need to know the answers for.

When it comes to your personal life… sometimes it’s better to leave it alone.