I remember that first time when I drove a car alone after passing my driving test – the sense of being in control, and also being slightly scared by the responsibility. I had been under pressure to pass first time as well because every prefect at my school had done so since time immemorial!
I was now let loose on the roads where a friend described me as a fast but safe driver. Actually I think I was fairly careful. By contrast I went to visit a friend in deepest Sussex and one of his mates was in a different league. He was slightly crazy and drove around the local lanes like a racing driver. Completely stupid thing to do, but he opened my eyes to a completely different way of looking at driving. He wasn’t just concerned with the road and keeping on it, but what obstacles were there on the side of the road, what were the verges like – how much space there was if he happened to be forced off the road.
Years later driving our family Volvo I was indebted to this way of thinking – one of the children had distracted me as I came to a queue on a dual carriage way and I had no time stop. I swerved onto the grass verge and avoided a certain shunt.
Recalling this made me think how in working life say in a contract bid sometimes we expect to stay on the road and be safe, but things go wrong. The other side throws a curve ball, maybe introducing a new form of contract at a late stage or requiring a different pricing model. Or a key subcontractor decides to throw in the towel and join a rival bid.
Or the nice friendly and sensible in house lawyer is suddenly supplemented with an aggressive external adviser determined to make a mark on the transaction even though they have arrived very late in the day. Suddenly all those liability issues you thought were closed down are opened up again.
It is then that we need to think not about staying on the road because we are simply not able to, but about how to react and deal with the new circumstances. Maybe we will run out of the tarmacadam road, but there is still space to drive forward on the grass and mud if we look for it.
Oscar Wilde said “To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect”.
I think it shows a thoroughly prepared professional who even when the crisis arises keeps the car going in the right direction and the deal on track.
I was now let loose on the roads where a friend described me as a fast but safe driver. Actually I think I was fairly careful. By contrast I went to visit a friend in deepest Sussex and one of his mates was in a different league. He was slightly crazy and drove around the local lanes like a racing driver. Completely stupid thing to do, but he opened my eyes to a completely different way of looking at driving. He wasn’t just concerned with the road and keeping on it, but what obstacles were there on the side of the road, what were the verges like – how much space there was if he happened to be forced off the road.
Years later driving our family Volvo I was indebted to this way of thinking – one of the children had distracted me as I came to a queue on a dual carriage way and I had no time stop. I swerved onto the grass verge and avoided a certain shunt.
Recalling this made me think how in working life say in a contract bid sometimes we expect to stay on the road and be safe, but things go wrong. The other side throws a curve ball, maybe introducing a new form of contract at a late stage or requiring a different pricing model. Or a key subcontractor decides to throw in the towel and join a rival bid.
Or the nice friendly and sensible in house lawyer is suddenly supplemented with an aggressive external adviser determined to make a mark on the transaction even though they have arrived very late in the day. Suddenly all those liability issues you thought were closed down are opened up again.
It is then that we need to think not about staying on the road because we are simply not able to, but about how to react and deal with the new circumstances. Maybe we will run out of the tarmacadam road, but there is still space to drive forward on the grass and mud if we look for it.
Oscar Wilde said “To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect”.
I think it shows a thoroughly prepared professional who even when the crisis arises keeps the car going in the right direction and the deal on track.
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