The Worst Case Scenario: Why It Helps to Prepare for the Worst
Two approaches to preventing a sticky situation
Thinking about a worst case scenario takes me to a time I’d rather forget.
A family walk isn’t supposed to be the moment you regret not preparing for the worst. And yet, here I was standing in front of a plateau of bogy marshland with no clear path through it. It was getting dark and beginning to rain. We-my wife and two kids-were not prepared for this. With preparation, I may well have considered this outcome as our worst case scenario.
A thousand feet up, high above the village with no waterproof coats, torches, water, and no map or compass. The phone signal was non-existent, and the battery was running low. No one could have been more unprepared than we were.
Not only were we lost, but we were cold, wet, and scared.
What does worst case scenario mean?
Consider a situation where everything goes wrong. But rather than experience it, you imagine it-and capture it, hoping to avoid it in the future. This is the worst case scenario. A vision of the future you’d rather not have to experience.
Experience has taught us we can avoid the worst of outcomes.
