Translated from 日本語 • View original I used to work for a European organization, and there was a word "Plan B" that I used a lot at that time.
In Japanese, it is an "alternative", but it has a deeper meaning.
Recently, I suddenly realized that this "Plan B" is not used much in Japanese organizations, both in terms of words and in practice.
In conclusion, "always have Plan B" is my way of thinking.
What is Plan B?
As I wrote at the beginning, Plan B is an alternative.
And since it is called Plan B, there is Plan A.
Plan A is the so-called original plan.
"What do you do when Plan A doesn't go well?" is "What's your Plan B?" is.
This is a phrase that can be used during the planning phase or when Plan A is in progress and things are not going well.
Why Japanese Organizations Don't Talk About Plan B
I used to work for a relatively large Japanese company, and from my experience there, I somehow understand why Japan doesn't talk about Plan B.
The reason is...
"Because it's hard to talk about the possibility of failure."
The common boss's tsukkomi when talking about Plan B is "Don't talk on the premise of failure."
You may be asked, "Are you not confident in your plan in the first place?"
If so, it is easier to commit to Plan A and pretend to be confident.
So what if Plan A doesn't work?
It says, "I tried hard, but it didn't work."
Having a plan B from the beginning and saying, "If Plan A doesn't work, I'll switch to Plan B," it's better for mental management to say, "I'll keep this plan in mind."
It is a ball-crushing idea.
Create a Plan B from the Beginning and Talk About It
When you are doing a challenging job with uncertainty in the first place, you will never succeed with the first plan. It's natural, isn't it?
Therefore, in a job with high uncertainty, the probability of success increases if you switch to Plan B as soon as you decide that it will not work.
And Plan B should be discussed as well as Plan A.
Sometimes you may need to prepare up to Plan C or D.
Don't intend to smash the ball, just stick to success
Plan A is the very first plan, so of course it is important to have the mentality of committing and doing it desperately. However, once you start doing it, unexpected things always happen, and you have to change your plan flexibly.
If you stick to your mentality, you can't change your plan.
But if you're committed to success, it doesn't matter if it's Plan A or B.
If you have such a target-oriented (goal-oriented way of thinking to achieve a goal in everything), it will be natural to have a plan B.
Ask Plan B
If you are in a position to review (managerial role), please ask the following questions.
"What do you do when it doesn't work?"
To put it more simply,
"What about Plan B?"
It's fun to talk about Plan B
As you can see when you actually use it, if you ask "What's your Plan B?" instead of stuffing, it will be a more casual and fun conversation than you think.
This blog doesn't talk about English, but if you don't have a very good Plan B, you can say, "It's a good question!"(I feel like I'm in trouble) and it will be reassuring.
In Japanese today, it's "That's it!"
Oh, can't I tell my boss this...
Anyway, this conversation can lead to ideas from other people, such as "How about this?"
I recommend it because it will make the interaction feel cool. Laughter
What do you think?
If you want to make it a target-oriented team, discuss Plan B. It's simple, but the team's mentality for challenges should also change.
Please try using "Plan B".