What Would MacGyver Do?
Not everything always goes our way.
No matter how much we plan, schedule and think through every single detail, there WILL be times when something doesn’t go according to our plan. What do you do when that happens?How do you handle the unexpected curve balls that life throws at you?
It’s in these exact moments where we (and others) see what we’re really made of.
One of the very first events I planned was a luncheon and news conference at the Kansas Capitol Building for the NHRA Drag Races coming to town. I thought I had everything thing planned and organized perfectly…the luncheon, interviews with three top fuel drivers, remarks by the Governor and even a few of the Budweiser Clydesdales making an appearance on the capitol steps.
When the caterers arrived to start setting up the lunch, they asked about where to place the food for the buffet. I quickly told them this was not a buffet; this was a formal event with a plated luncheon.
But it wasn’t. They brought the food buffet style. And we only had 15 minutes before the press started arriving.
There was no way I was going to ask the Governor of the state of Kansas to stand in a buffet line. But what was I going to do?
The clock was ticking – I needed to make a decision and make it fast.
Here was my moment.
Ready and go! I decided to turn the buffet into a plated meal using any/all the existing dinnerware we had. I put the caterers to work on serving the salads and lunches on plates.
I grabbed the coffee saucers and turned them into butter plates. I placed the rolls on extra dinner plates and covered them with napkins – hoping no one would notice they weren’t in a basket. I used the creamer and sugar sets for the salad dressing.
It worked. I survived. The event was a success and no one other than the caterers and me knew the chaos that was happening in the room next door.
Sure, it’s easy to look good when everything goes perfectly, but the true test of our greatness is revealed in how we handle those situations when things don’t go as we anticipated.
When the unexpected happens, we have to be creative in our resourcefulness.
We are never out of options. There is always something else we can do or another thing we can try. We are never backed into a corner unless we put ourselves there.
Each time we are faced with the unexpected happening, we should learn from itand work towards preparing for it in the future. Believe me, since that day at the capitol, I’ve never had another caterer show up with the wrong format for food again!
, Chief Marketing Officer at
kelly pierce
Kelly’s entrepreneurial instincts, ability to communicate and lead rather than dictate and manage, and commitment to see the overall big picture have allowed Advisors Excel’s 50-person creative unit to run stride for stride with the company’s continued amazing growth.
A Kansas State graduate with a B.S. in Business Administration; Marketing & International Business.
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