Lessons for a father - S.I.F.S

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When we were growing up there used to be this story of the boy who cried wolf one too many times. His cry for an urgent reaction, in this case to save his sheep from a wild animal, were repeated so many times without an actual urgency (no wolf!) that when it did happen no one responded. Based on the culture that we represent there may be multiple variations of this story.

Lesson learned there. Do not try to make urgent what might not even be important. Also, whatever you do, do not take help for granted.

A similar story involves the phrase "the sky is falling". 

What is it that we would do if the sky were to fall? 

In no particular order we would, possibly, leave what we were doing, run and hide and wait for things to settle down. What happens if someone was just "crying wolf" and the sky actually did not fall? We, collectively, would have wasted time by doing things (running, hiding and waiting) that we did not need to do. 

The perception of urgency, especially when vocalized, may lead to a behavioral shift, even temporarily, in all of us. At home or work, important should remain important and become urgent only at the right time.

A lot of us suffer from temporary loss of calm reason and engage in this Chicken Little moment. I have a name for it. I call it S.I.F.S - the Sky Is Falling Syndrome.

So the question really is, how do we make sure that we do not cry wolf if it is not needed? Here is what I have learned:

• Ask the right questions - Instead of being contended with "things are not working" how about we take the next step and ask "what is it that is not working exactly"?
• Set the definition of success - It is very hard to know if we are successful if we do not know what success looks like. It is like playing the competitive format of a sport without counting conditions for which the natural flow of the sport has to temporarily stop (goals, fouls, runs etc.). May be the goal is for our toddler to know the numbers from 1 through 5 or for our client to have an amazing experience using a new piece of software that was developed. What defines success?
• Only involve relevant people - When we get into a moment of adversity we all have a tendency to attack the problem with numbers. Instead our attempt should be to only call people that can kill or scare away the big bad wolf. Numbers have this weird habit of failing to be on the right side sometimes.
• Communicate. Communicate. Communicate - Communication, at least in my head, holds the same importance as location for a business. If at any time we are unable to answer the why, how, what, when and who of the goal, success, at best, might be temporary. In times of adversity, it helps if the quality and quantity of communication is taken to a higher level.
• Stay calm - Even if the sky is falling or the hungry big bad wolf attacks, move fast but stay calm. Chaos usually fuels bad behavior in times of distress. Take a couple of minutes. Drink some water. Taking a minute to calm down bears much sweeter fruit than those borne of turbulence.

The sky might be falling. But it may also be just the sign of a good rain. Instead of running and hiding, it might be time to go out and have fun.