Bear with me. I have some examples of insufficient preparation and some thoughts for you.

Management of the manufacturing company moved me from a role in manufacturing to one in product development. They thought (wrongly probably) that I was smart but that I required some growing. They threw me into growth positions where it was sort of “sink-or-swim.”

We were a division of a Fortune 50 company. I was assigned first to research capital equipment that we could use to reduce scrap in the manufacturing process. That I did. They they told me that a few senior executives from the Chicago HQ were coming in, and I had to present the request for capital investment. That I did. 

But I was totally unprepared for all the questions that were fired at me. I sort of panicked and mumbled what I could.

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I thought about preparation as I watched the debacle of the US Men’s National Soccer Team v Panama 6/27/24.  Panama is a long-time competitor of the US. Their tactics should be well known. They commit nasty fouls, kicks on the ankles, stepping on feet, and other tactics designed to provoke their opponents.

The US team members should have known that. The coaching staff should have prepared them. Unfortunately, a key player lost his cool, took a swing, and was ejected very early in the game. Now the team had to play an important contest 10 v 11 for 75 minutes.

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I have not watched anything pertaining to a US President on TV since probably 1967 and Lyndon Johnson appearing on TV telling us more “stuff” about the war in VietNam.

So I missed the Biden v Trump “debate” on purpose. It sounds like a gross example of incorrect preparation. I studied the Nixon/Kennedy debate in graduate school many years ago. Surely every political advisor should have studied it. Nixon was a champion debater. He was prepared with debate points. (Unfamiliar with TV, he also famously refused makeup. Turns out when you’re a performer on stage makeup is not feminine, it’s a necessity.) Kennedy never directly answered a question. He riffed off the question to give his message. But he did it so well that he swayed the audience. Reagan was great for finding a pointed follow up observation.

Try this intellectual experiment.

If I’m preparing Biden, I’d have brought in some psychologists to role play how to provoke someone with narcissistic tendencies into a temper tantrum. Facts and figures? No one tunes into TV for those. People want a fight. Journalists want a fight. And journalists also want someone to go down so they can kick them. (OK, maybe I do have an opinion about political journalists.)

(I’m not advising Trump, because I think he cannot be advised. He is who he is. It sounds like he just gave his stump speech. Probably something Biden should have done.)

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I don’t do politics. I like to analyze. Can’t help myself.

My point is for you—those who read my thoughts.

How are you preparing? For your next executive presentation. For your proposal to the non-profit organization board for a new initiative. For a talk with your teenagers.

Are you preparing for the last war, or the next one? Instead of looking internally, have you considered the point of view of the opposition? What will they attack? How can that attack be met or diverted? What questions could come up that I'll need to answer with a good story?

(Note: I don't debate politics. That is a rabbit hole leading to nowhere. If you want to discuss practices that enhance our life, that's where I live these days.)

Gary