It can be hard to tell.
A friend who lives in Dubai usually escapes to Germany over the summer. More manageable temperatures. Except this weekend, we recorded nearly 42 degrees Celsius at over 40 different points across the country. In Dubai, meanwhile, temperatures topped out at 38 degrees.
Naturally, Dubai stays hotter for longer, and nights are consistently warmer than over here. But the question remains: Did that move achieve its intended effect? Or did my friend jump from the fire into the frying pan and quite literally so?
“If everything happens the way it usually does, this should work.” That’s how we make our plans. But if a slight deviation from the norm can thwart our entire scheme, perhaps our scheme is not resilient enough to begin with. The better prompt might be: “If nothing happens the way it usually does, will this still be of some benefit?”
There are no solutions, only tradeoffs. But the more we trade off, the more we can expect in clear changes on the other side. Sometimes, it’s worth sacrificing more to fully secure the deal. At other times, slightly tweaking the plan and hoping for the best will have to do.
If you really need an escape hatch, at least stop briefly before turning the wheel: “Will this actually get me where I want to go?” Should you feel the odds aren’t good enough, you can always take another stab at the maze—for even walls can be made into exits.
