My ears perked up at McDonald’s when I overheard two (very tall) students in line ahead of me: “Hey, are you in ready position for the Big Dance?”
Many years ago, Marquette coach Al Maguire coined a nickname for the National College Athletic Association’s biggest basketball competition — “The Big Dance.” Division A basketball teams across the US get to test their metal. It’s famous for exciting plays, unexpected turns of events, and lots of upsets.
“Ready position” is a term used in many sports to describe a player’s stance. A quick search reveals that there is a “ready position” for basketball, tennis, volleyball, softball, baseball, squash, pickleball, ping pong, badminton, running, and cheer dance.
Ready position widens a player’s peripheral vision and promotes awareness. You are prepared to move at any moment to where you need to be. It’s a light position, not solid and cemented. It’s on your toes and leaning forward. It’s open and aware, and ready to adapt.
Standing there in line, it struck me how important it is for your organization to be in “ready position” when you are driving a high-stakes strategy.
Talk about a Big Dance!
Whether it’s supply chain disruptions, new regulation, or the glimmer of a new market— continual uncertainty can make leading your new strategy feel like a big dance too. Lots of footwork. Not always elegant.
In working with clients driving new strategies, I encourage leaders to get their organization in ready position by creating a rhythm of “Anticipating What If”.
Your strategy may be perfect. But once you start executing, you’ll often run into bumps in the road that can derail you, or market shifts that represent windows of opportunity you don’t want to miss.
You need a systematic approach to regularly think through the “unthinkable,” both risk of loss and opportunities, and consider how you could handle them.
Regularly “Anticipating What If’ can keep you and your team alert, on your toes and ready to act quickly. Able to listen for new cues and sensing changes around you. Grounded and clear about your bigger purpose. Moving forward when there are setbacks instead of frozen or feeling blindsided.
Boston Consulting Group sees this type of regular “sensing” as an opportunity for organizations to create a competitive advantage.
“Out of a desire to avoid undue risk, businesses can get locked into a cycle of analysis paralysis, delaying key decisions until they can acquire the information they feel they can trust.
A small cadre of organizations has been able to move forward with great confidence. They have developed a more expansive view of risks and opportunities and a more nimble way of interpreting inputs. They have cultivated “signal advantage”. (“Building Your Uncertainty Advantage” Iny Kuipers Sanders 2020)
Are you and your leadership team and your board in “ready position” when it comes to your own new strategy or initiative? Have you made an intentional rhythm of proactively sensing opportunity windows and downside risk so that you can be nimble?
Just start. It will definitely make your own “Big Dance” a lot more fun.
(If you’d like to explore how to get results faster for your own new strategy, let’s talk. Your mission is too important to get derailed. Susan Schramm, Founder and Principal, Go to Market Impact LLC susan.schramm@gotomarketimpact.com)
