I recently visited the Louvre in Abu Dhabi and was fascinated by the excellent cartography exhibition. It made me think of all the brave sailors and explorers of the 16th and 17th Century, travelling to unknown lands and mapping them with great precision. Critical to their success would have been tremendous courage and a deep faith in their crew, their ships and most of all in themselves. Today in our businesses, we expect things to work out exactly as planned. We want surety in every aspect of our lives. Perhaps we should act like those brave explorers? Have faith in our people and in ourselves to do the right thing. Ask what is the worst that could happen?
The ancient seafarers would have possibly said that not ever being able to return home would have been the worst possible outcome. Whilst we could never have absolute surety about the success and outcome of our business, having courage, faith and skill will go a long way to future-proof our business.