When Things Go Wrong

I was giving a talk to a group of government employees a few weeks ago when something went terribly wrong.

I was hired to speak to this group because they were going through major changes and I was asked to come share some tips and ideas on how to manage their big transition without losing their sense of community and respect for each other and management.

At first, all was going well. The group was warm and receptive. We were laughing and building a connection from my opening statements.

But within ten minutes, something was off, something was wrong. As I glanced at my notes, I could see that I was going to finish my talk earlier than planned.

I started thinking to myself if I should add more stories to make further points or stick with the curriculum and then see where it takes me, takes us.

As I neared the twenty-minute mark, I was ready to wrap up my talk.

The problem was that I was alloted 60 minutes in their program! I had another forty minutes to fill!!

I began to sweat. I could feel myself get warm and feel a little uneasy.

What was I going to do?

This had never happened before.

I had never finished early like this before.

I had given this talk before, or at least something very similar, and it always ran 40 minutes with time for Q&A. I had no idea what I had done differently this time nor how I was at the 20-minute mark and I was wrapping up my talk.

It felt like an out-of-body experience for a few moments.

As I closed my planned talk, I turned to the organizer and told her that I was done.

I could see the look of horror on her face.

I remained calm. I didn’t panic and certainly did not want her to panic.

I turned to the audience and said, « I am now ready to take your questions. »

Immediately, a woman at the back of the room enthusiastically raised her hand. She had a question.

I was relieved.

Normally, the Q&A segment starts a little later in the talk but now that we were rolling with the punches, I was ready to be as helpful as I could.

For the next 45 minutes, they had questions, they had comments. They remained engaged and what ended up transpiring, that fascinated me, was that they rallied. They stood up for each other. They went from being overwhelmed and frustrated to being hopeful and determined to make their transition a postive one.

As I was preparing to apologize to the organizer before I left, she turned to me and said that the buzz around the coffee station and in the bathrooms is that they loved the stories that I shared and they enjoyed the faciliation of the discussion. They found themselves energized and ready for the rest of the day, which was a strategic planning day.

I felt relieved.

As I walked to my vehicle, and I was thinking about what had transpired, I couldn’t help but shake my head. I felt like I had been put through the wringer but came out wrinkle-free.

I share this story with you because often times, things go wrong. They go in a different direction, one that is way beyond what we had planned or expected.

There are two things we can do in those moments :

1. Panic and make it into something horrible.

2. Acknowlege it, address it and roll with the punches with flexibility and confidence.

I had no idea how the rest of my time was going to play out but I had to trust that I could do it, that I could help them and that I was at the right place to serve.

When things go wrong and we are left with a choice about how to take our next steps, remember that you remain in control of how you react and how you move forward.

When was the last time something went wrong for you? What did you do? What did you learn from that experience? Feel free to share so that we can all learn too.

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