Plan B Mindset

With the NFL conference championships complete from last weekend, there is plenty of discussion regarding Chicago Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler’s injury and if it should have kept him out of the game. I think the conversation is about the wrong quarterback. I was most impressed by third-string and third-year player Caleb Hanie, who nearly pulled out the game for the Bears. Replacing second string QB Todd Collins with a few seconds left in the third quarter (and per NFL rules ensuring that he would have play the remainder of the game), Heine looked like the best Bears quarterback that day. As the designated third string quarterback, Hanie was inactive unless injuries or quality of play called him into service. Third string quarterbacks rarely play, because if they enter the game prior to the 4th quarter, the other two quarterbacks cannot come back into the game. Hanie had played in only two games this year and thrown only seven passes. For his career, he had only played in four games...

 It’s one thing to get your own mind to be open to adaptability in a changing environment – what I call a Plan B Mindset. It’s an entirely different thing to get your team (whether they work for you, with you or you work for them) to open their mind to the same possibilities. One of the questions I get most is, “how do I get others around me to see the world in the same way?” While the question isn’t only unique to being mentally nimble, it is important to truly build an adaptable culture. I thought I would share a few quick thoughts in how I worked to keep people aligned and being adaptable, even if it’s not in their nature: 1. Turn the question from “why we can’t” to “how could we?” It’s amazing how many people want to be the Devil’s Advocate. I work hard to ban the language from my teams – there are enough devils around, we need people who can look at issues and strategy from a curious perspective. Curiosity is an amazing gift. A powerful question to ask when someone launches in...