Leadership lessons from pop culture
The BIG Takeaway™
newsletter
July 31, 2022

​What leaders can learn from TV, sports and movies this week

Hello current and aspiring leaders! 

It is good to be back after two weeks away. While traveling I came across the new HBO show "The Rehearsal" which will be the focus of the newsletter this week.

​The program is a odd, funny, uncomfortable...AND a great lesson on risk management.

A side note on traveling this summer before we get started.
  • Oh...my...goodness. Watching people trying to get a seat on the plane or space in the overhead bin for their bags (no, a desk is not carry-on luggage) reminded me of the old Filene's Basement Running of the Brides sale.
  • Thing have gone so bonkers that these folks raked in $10,000 to give up their seats on Delta.
  • And rental cars are nowhere to be found. This "Seinfeld" rental counter clip is a classic and, I would argue, aligns with our topic this week of planning and risk management.

Let's go.

Rich Trombetta
@trombettarich
July 31, 2022
This week's BIG Takeaway:
Ensure you manage risk...AND accept the universe may still have its own plan for things
Image: HBO
The best-laid plans...
A lesson on the limits of risk management

The context: In the new HBO show "The Rehearsal" Nathan Fielder gives people a chance to rehearse for their own lives in a world where nothing ever works out as expected. (source: IMDB.com)

  • The reception to the show has been overwhelmingly positive. While the program can be a bit odd and uncomfortable to watch at times, it does offer what I believe to be a unique perspective on planning and risk management.

  • Fielder and his crew build sets, hire actors and rehearse every tiny detail to help people plan for an upcoming situation they are about to experience. I mean EVERY detail.

  • Watch the official trailer here.

What we can learn: Managing risk is critical but there is a limit.
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  • Fielder attempts to do what so many of us wish for - to know the outcome before the actual moment in time takes place.

  • For example, in the premiere he subliminally teaches the answers to a trivia contest to the person he is trying to help. He also has an exact replica of a bar built - down to a crooked picture on the wall - which he uses as a location for the person to practice what is expected to be a difficult conversation.

  • Despite everything being planned to the point of ridiculous, the outcome is, well, you should watch the show; without spoiling things, there are still surprises.

My take: Do your rigorous planning and then at some point simply expect (and accept) the unexpected.

  • Here is a great risk management tool that I use all of the time. The idea is to brainstorm the impact of possible risks versus the probability of them happening.​​
  • You have to realize however that, despite all of the greatest risk assessments, project plans, pre-mortems (yes, that's a thing), post-mortems, data analysis and forecasting, life STILL may take things in a different direction.

  • Leaders need to be at peace with the fact that sometimes life just happens and it's not anyone's fault.​ Leaders often so badly want to control the uncontrollable, plan for every scenario and know the result before the game is even played like in "The Rehearsal." Life doesn't work that way.
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The BIG Takeaway:
Ensure you manage risk...AND accept the universe may still have its own plan for things
Let's put this into action
Image: Pexels
👉​What you can do on your own: 
  • ONE: Use the risk management matrix to think through a current or future project. Identify your biggest risks and create a plan to mitigate or address them. 
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  • TWO: Think back to something that went wrong on a project, work on non-work related. Have you ever noticed (provided that no one was seriously hurt) that these events often provide the best stories and laughs? There's a lesson there.

  • THREE:  Consider your reaction when a "life happens" situation takes place. Do you get angry? Do you blame people? Or do you accept it, know you did your best, shrug it off, dare I say laugh, and just move on? 
📢​ What you can do with others:
  • USE OUR DISCUSSON GUIDES: Work with your team or other colleagues to dig deeper into this week's topic. Instead of a book club I like to think of this as our "movie-or-TV club." 
    ​This week: Watch "The Rehearsal" and discuss the idea of balancing thorough and diligent risk management with also accepting there are some things you can't control or plan for.​
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Before we end here's our weekly grab bag of quick links
😁 Smile: I think we all need to let loose like this dog every so often.

🎓 Learn: Watch this TED Talk on risk management by extreme athlete Will Gadd.
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🌷 Relax:  Have fun with this AWESOME music mix-up site.
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That's all for now

​Thanks for reading and please remember:
  • We archive our stories and put them here for the world to read so feel free to have a look.
  • If you have any ideas or feedback Contact me with your thoughts.
  • We can create custom newsletters​ and training sessions on the topics we write about.
Rich Trombetta
​@trombettarich

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