“Never make predictions. Especially about the future.”
– Casey Stengel (1890 – 1975), Hall-of-Famer and baseball legend
Will?
How about “may?” How about “could?”
The difference between a prediction and a projection is a major difference indeed! Why? Self-fulfilling prophecies, in part, pre-disposition, too.
Here’s a prediction: “If we do __________, I will lose that deal, for sure.” How hard will that sales pro work if leadership has to make a tough decision to do _________? How strong will that sales pro be in the face of an objection or a misdirection?
Here’s a projection: “If we have to __________, the Client might ask for ________, or _________, and probably __________. If we agree to two of those three requests, we may still get the deal in around our target margin, and, we could have access to the three contract renewals they have with competitors over the next two years.”
We never really know what is going to happen. Until it happens.
We very often have insight into what may happen. What could happen.
And from there, we can plan.
Because we haven’t predicted victory and become lazy because we thought we’d already won. And because we haven’t predicted defeat and presumed we’d already lost.
Possibility thinking is a tool that difference-makers use relentlessly. Predictions are for gamblers, and if gamblers won very often, Vegas wouldn’t have very nice shows and hotels, now, would it?
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