A 27 pound, spiked tortoise broke through a wooden fence and has gone missing in Easthampton, Massachusetts, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. This African Sulcata can grow to 300 pounds and live 100 years. Eleven years ago it was a tiny little thing that the kids, who have since moved out, loved. So why not?
SO WHY NOT? If this phrase was uttered at all, it must have been as a statement. Likely in answer to any questions and concerns raised AFTER the purchase. What would have happened had it been asked seriously? It would take a really dishonest or ignorant pet store owner to fail to mention the 300 pounds and 100 years. And it would take a parent totally infatuated with the idea of such an exotic pet and unable to think for about two minutes to ignore the image of a 300 pound tortoise in the yard, house, or garage long after the kids are gone.
Unfortunately, this is not an infrequent problem. People frequently plan and act without asking enough questions, particularly those that would uncover the risks:
- What might go wrong?
- Why is this not a good idea?
- Where is the risk?
I’m not trying to be the stick-in-the-mud, the wet rag that smothers all exciting ideas, because the point of asking these questions is not just to kill bad plans, it is also so you can find ways to prevent the potential problems, to mitigate the risks.
And don’t tell me that this is just an irrelevant personal example. Business fails to ask these questions just as often. Our recent economic disaster provides many examples. What might go wrong if you lend too much money to people who are unlikely to pay it back? Where is the risk in selling fire insurance on a building to several people in addition to the owner?
Advertising examples are not uncommon either. What might go wrong if we place electronic boxes with a few blinking lights and wires hanging out of them all over the country next to bridges, tunnels, subways, and other important transportation structures? Why might it be a bad idea for Tiger Wood’s dead father to ask him if he learned anything following his sex scandal?
But don’t stop with Wall Street and Fifth Avenue! You can find your own examples on Main Street, at home, work, and school.
Though what would they write about in newspapers if more people just stopped and asked what might go wrong more often?
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