I fly a lot for business, and a recent flight to Fort Lauderdale reminded me of the importance of flexibility, both at work and in my personal life.
I boarded the plane beneath blue skies with my laptop in hand, and was looking forward to getting a couple hours of work done before landing. Then a shadow came over the plane, and before the flight attendant could warn us, a heavy downpour delayed our flight.
We found out there was a tornado watch and our delay would be much longer than anticipated. "Game time," I thought. I knew from experience that I wouldn't be able to change the situation, I could only change the way I handled it. So while other passengers berated the flight attendant or complained to their spouses on the phone, I remembered "TAG."
T = Think.
When you're faced with something unexpected, the first thing to do is to stop and think. It's easy to get caught in the whirlwind of circumstances and act impulsively, but by pausing, you can ask yourself questions that will help direct your subsequent actions. "What's happening?" "Why is this happening?" "How does this affect me?" "What's the best response?"
A = Adjust.
Once you've identified what's happening and how you're involved, you can change your expectations and behavior to allow for the new circumstance. Accepting Plan B isn't always easy because it means Plan A failed. But what people don't realize is that Plan B represents a willingness to keep trying.
G = Gather.
Even when you're being patient and practical and channeling your inner Yoda, a supportive shoulder to lean on is always helpful. Whether it's your family or your colleagues, gather people you know you can count on – especially in an unexpected situation. These are the people who will adjust their schedules when they find out your arrival is delayed or will make room at the table when the babysitter cancels.
So there I sat on the plane, asking myself what had happened and what it meant for me. The flight was delayed; I wouldn't check in on time and I might even be late for my meeting. Problem identified. Time to adjust. I would need to check timing for the next flight out, advise my hotel and warn my client about the situation. Then came a challenge: I had horrible service and my phone was dying. So I gathered myself – I sent an e-mail to a colleague and asked her to contact the client, and I asked my wife to notify the hotel.
Eventually the storm ended and I got on a new flight. My plans had changed, but I arrived at my destination. Being flexible doesn't just mean rolling with the punches or rising with the tide – it isn't passive. Rather, flexibility requires an adjustment of our attitudes and actions to account
for the unexpected. And a game of TAG doesn't hurt.
Andy Bailey can cut through organizational BS faster than a hot knife through butter, showing organizations the logjams thwarting their success and coaching them past the excuses. After all, as he tells his clients, 100% annual growth is only 2% growth every week. It's not easy. But possible. Andy learned how to build great organizations by building a great business, which he started in college then, grew into an Inc. 500 multimillion dollar national company that he successfully sold and exited. He founded Petra to pass on to other entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders the principles and practices he used to build his successful enterprise, which are rooted in the Rockefeller Habits methodology.
