What to Do When Things Go Wrong

by Frank Supovitz

  In these cases, the plays that Peyton Manning’s coaches planned were not as important as what Manning called at the line of scrimmage. No one cares about the plan if it is no longer appropriate to the circumstances. What we care about are the results. So what you had planned is not as important as what you actually do when it looks like a blitz is coming your way.

  SHARE THE PLAN

  After the players break from the huddle, everyone knows their role, position, and route, and knows what to do if the quarterback calls an audible. Not every player is expected to run or catch the ball, but every one of them knows what they are expected to do when play begins.

  Managing your own team is no different. It is important that all teammates know their role, position, and the route. If you need to call an audible, they will need to know not only the overall game plan, but also your Plan B, what might precipitate a change, and how that change might affect their areas of responsibility. The Super Bowl, as a complex project composed of myriad details, never went strictly to plan. Audibles helped to keep things nudging in the right direction, when required.

  INFORMATION IS POWER. SHARING INFORMATION IS INSURANCE.

  In 2017, the Pentagon’s Special Inspector General determined that the United States Army wasted as much as $30 million on camouflaged uniforms for Afghan soldiers. The pattern selected by the country’s defense minister was a design ideal for concealing soldiers in a wooded environment, but only about 2 percent of the sparsely populated country is forested. Rather than concealing the soldiers, the proprietary motif of dark brown-and-green splotches made them fashionably conspicuous targets.

  The reason the Army agreed to pay a premium for a proprietary camouflage pattern was to keep the enemy from copying it and then blending in with the troops which, at face value, does make some sense. I imagine, however, that the Army has camouflage experts who might have flagged that the design was inappropriate for the environment. Yet, somehow this expensively deadly solution was approved, ordered, and . . . yes . . . worn in active service.

  To be honest, I’m not sure you have to be an expert to know that a leafy green-and-woody brown concealment pattern does not work very well in a place that does not have a lot of either color. But, for now, let’s assume that either the right people with the right skills asking the right questions were not part of the decision-making process, that there was little collaboration or communication on how and why that decision was made, or perhaps, worst of all, that no one was paying very close attention.

  Anyone who has ever worked in a company with more than one employee knows that these kinds of outcomes are often the result of people working in silos. It’s natural. People have lots to do within their defined scope of responsibility, and it is often faster and easier to make decisions in a vacuum than to get the insights or opinions of either people who are subject experts, or those who might be affected by the outcome.

  The Super Bowl is no different. Try as we might, there is no way to eliminate the tendency for teammates to plan and manage within their own areas of responsibility without collaborating, gathering viewpoints, or sharing information. It is simply quicker not to. In a siloed environment, errors go undetected because information is not shared, and mistakes are made because changes aren’t circulated. It is essential that we combat this very human predisposition by establishing a consistent and dependable forum for socializing, adjusting, and changing plans to suit emerging information and new realities. Socializing is an active, iterative, and participatory process; it is not simply a presenter sharing with a listener.

  We gathered 300 Super Bowl managers and contractors four times each year for exhaustive briefings on all areas of the execution plan. At the first briefing, held in April, each area presented their preliminary plan for the next event; this provided everyone in attendance with the opportunity to identify flaws and omissions, and correct faulty assumptions. It was everyone’s responsibility to use the next 90 days to resolve the conflicts in the plan, correct erroneous information, and revise their strategies.

  The group reconvened in June, at which time we repeated the cycle of review and critique. By the time we reached our December “all hands” meeting, we were all acting on the plans that were considered final. Until the plans changed again. The truth is, making changes to the plans never truly stopped, even after that final meeting. During execution, we conscientiously monitored progress—looking for delays, flaws, and mistakes—and informed the team when we needed to call the audibles required to keep us on track.

  We, as leaders, must model our expectation that teammates share changes and new information. Get them out of their silos often enough to share their plans, share their problems, and collaborate on solutions. Most importantly, when they or you need to call an audible, the word must get out quickly to every teammate who may be affected, or who can contribute to the solution. O-MA-HA!

  THE CALM OUTSIDE. THE STORM WITHIN.

  I recognize that everyone has a different management style, and you have probably worked with them all. Some leaders manage with the force of their personality, while others manage through the volume of their voice. Some managers want to be considered the smartest person in the room and some managers truly already are. There are probably as many nuanced management styles as there are managers.

  I’m generally thought of as a calm, confident person, someone who keeps Skippy hidden away as deliberately as Norman Bates from the movie Psycho hides his mommy issues. To be totally honest, though, I am not that calm on the inside, even when things are going right. No one sees that, either. What has helped me, however, is that I’m not that much different when things are going wrong.

  Notwithstanding more than three decades of leading event project teams, I still don’t eat much on the days leading up to an event. I used to grade the difficulty of events I worked on by how many pounds I lost during the month before. Relatively simple projects were usually “two-pounders.” Tougher projects were “four-pounders” or “five-pounders,” and I’m proud to say I survived a couple of “eight-pounders.” That said, it is important to state that working on events is not a medically sound or safe weight-loss strategy.

  During the planning process, throughout the execution process, and even more so when we have to respond to things that have truly gone wrong, your team will be looking to their leaders and managers for sound direction, clear communication, encouragement, and support. The concept of modeling the behaviors we want in our teammates is never more appropriate than while we are busily executing our own projects, because in the execution of their own jobs, teammates are more likely to behave the way their leaders do. If their leaders are outwardly anxious, nervous, irritable, and loud, teammates will tend to be so also. As for me, I’ll let my calm outward demeanor belie any internal turmoil, especially when things are going just fine. You should, too. I have learned that if you are in a position of leadership and you are showing how nervous you are, you must stop it and get over yourself. Because it’s not about you.

  TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

  “If there is a loss of cabin pressure, an oxygen mask will automatically drop from the compartment over your head. To start the flow of oxygen, pull the mask towards you. Place it firmly over your nose and mouth, pull the elastic bands to tighten, and breathe normally. If you are traveling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your own mask first, then assist the other person.” Over all the years and all the commercial flights during which this announcement has been made, it’s remarkable that it has never sparked outrage from parents who find it morally repulsive to suggest that they should take care of themselves while their helpless progeny negotiate the thinning atmosphere of a leaky, oversized toothpaste tube.

  I would say: “Hey, let me try that on and make sure I know how to use it before I actually have need of it. Oh, and by the way, let me try one on my kid, too. Since the bag will also not inflate if oxygen isn’t flowing, can we test that out? And, let me try on that life jacket to m
ake sure I can put it on securely before water comes through the windows.”

  I’m an event planner and I’m reticent about doing anything without a rehearsal, but what the airplane safety announcement says is very smart. It may seem counterintuitive, but you are a much better parent if you do put on your oxygen mask first. If you struggle trying to get your child’s mask on without having the oxygen flowing for yourself, you might just pass out in the process. Then, you are no good to anyone, and your kid still doesn’t have an oxygen mask.

  It’s our responsibility to get the job done right, and to be able to respond when things go wrong. So, by extension, we have to put on our own oxygen masks and make sure everyone else does, too. How does that work for someone whose nerves are overactive and whose stomach is churning beneath a calm exterior? I keep some trail mix in my desk and throw a selection of nutrition bars into my backpack in case I can’t find the time to force myself to eat. During the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, our medical team kept an eye on us—as well as on the fans and teams—to make sure that we all stayed hydrated and healthy.

  Take care of yourself so you can take care of your team and your project. That includes getting enough rest ourselves, both mentally and physically. Our body’s requirement for sleep becomes painfully obvious when we spend too many hours sacrificing rest for the sake of answering a few more late-night e-mails from bed.

  Less obvious is our need for intermittent breaks during our work days. Psychologists have determined that a step outside for a cup of coffee, a walk around the block, or even just a brief saunter down the hall for a change of environment can provide the quick mental break that can boost our overall productivity, creativity, and stamina. Periodically stepping away from our computers and e-mails improves our ability to focus on problem-solving, and, as counterintuitive as it sounds, enables us to accomplish more overall.

  TAKE CARE OF YOUR TEAM

  The radio traffic on our walkie-talkies was constant, and it seemed like almost every call for information, assistance, or direction was coming my way. I was Radio City Music Hall’s director of talent for the May 1986 finale gala of the Coca-Cola Centennial in Atlanta, an intimate party for 14,000 guests at the Georgia World Congress Center. With 700 musicians performing on a dozen different stages, I had my hands full. It was an extremely long day rehearsing every group, every stage cue, and calling audibles despite the months of planning. In short, it was an “eight-pounder.”

  Late in the afternoon, as rehearsals began to wind down, my head suddenly felt lighter. It wasn’t because I was passing out. My boss, Mike Walker, had lifted the radio headset from my ears.

  “Go get something to eat,” he said.

  “But, we’re not done yet,” I protested.

  “Go across the street, take a break, and get something to eat,” he repeated evenly. “They’ll figure it out while you’re gone,” he said.

  Mike took the walkie-talkie off my belt. Mike was a pretty calm and very smart person. He must have seen that I was about to hit the wall, and there was a very long night still ahead. “Frank is going off headset for 30 minutes,” he announced to everyone and no one in particular.

  I have never enjoyed a Chick-fil-A combo meal as much as I did that one. I sat in the food court across the street from the convention center and felt the energy returning that I didn’t know had left. Mike sensed that I was running low on fuel and was in danger of running out of gas at a more critical time. Soon, I was ready to get back to work and finish strong. Had he not stepped in when he did, I am not sure that I would have been able to finish at all.

  Our teams also need rest, nourishment, and hydration. As leaders, we can try to keep their stress levels as manageable as possible, at least by not adding more. Be watchful and make sure they have quick access to water and food if they are unable to walk away for more than a momentary break at their busiest and most stressful moments. Program breaks and a place to take them into the schedule. An engine out of gas will simply stop running.

  BUILD BENCH STRENGTH

  “I’m in a really tough spot,” he admitted. “We made some investments over the past year and we’re out of cash. We don’t have the money to fly our team to the planning meeting. I am not even sure we can continue operating.”

  Here we were, just a few months before the Super Bowl, and the company that we had contracted for our fleet of buses and limousines for years was in such dire straits that they could not even purchase airline tickets. We had to make a change quickly and, at least to our guests, seamlessly. Luckily, one of the companies that had been working as one of their subcontractors was able to pick up more of the responsibilities for transportation and parking. The subcontractor company was able to do this magnificently well because they were already a small part of the team, and they did not have to start from scratch. More importantly, we did not have to waste time vetting an entirely new vendor while the calendar inexorably advanced toward game day.

  Sports teams dress more players for every game—pinch hitters, relief pitchers, second and third quarterbacks, and back-up goaltenders—than the coach will need or intends to use. If one of the team’s players is sick, injured, or is just not playing up to expectations, the coach takes someone else off the bench to replace him. They don’t stop the game and go searching for a player when they first realize they have a problem. They have players who know the playbook and are ready to get into the action. That’s bench strength, and we had that in our transportation area. From that point, I told our managers, it is important for other key areas to develop bench strength as well. We got lucky the one time that we had it in place when we suddenly needed it. Hoping it wouldn’t happen again is not an acceptable strategy.

  Building bench strength, that is, having a Plan B and an extra layer of resources at the ready to implement it, is also a good practice when developing your team. Challenge every leader to designate and empower a second-in-command, someone who can step in when or if the leader is unable or unavailable to make decisions, take action, or receive information. Share this expectation early so all direct reports can start grooming a “number two” if they don’t already have one.

  KEEP IT SIMPLE

  There is a reason that telephone numbers in the United States are arranged in groups of three and four digits. That’s because most people can easily remember strings of three or four numbers and chunks of three or four things in sequence. If you are among the memory experts who can recite the value of pi to thousands of digits, more power to you. As for me, if I have to focus on more than three or four important things, I better have them written down and handy.

  Remember that your teammates, as exceptional as they are, have a limit to the messages and details that they can retain. They have their own priorities to keep track of, so reduce complicated information to concise easy-to-digest chunks. That doesn’t mean being short on detail. Rather you should articulate the one or two details most essential to retain.

  Our final meeting the day before the game focused on only one thing: what to do if something went so catastrophically wrong that the stadium had to be vacated. Evacuating tens of thousands of fans and teammates would not be a simple process. What was important, we told them, was to listen for what they should do if pandemonium ensued. We added just one more important thing to remember: “Where do I go if the worst happens?” Honestly, if you remembered only one thing, wouldn’t you want that to be it?

  CLARITY AND PRECISION

  I met Klaus at the Olympiahalle, an indoor sports venue in Innsbruck, Austria, the day before the NHL’s 1998 preseason game between the Buffalo Sabres and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Although the players were from all over Europe and North America, they were used to playing in NHL arenas where English, and often French, were the familiar languages. I, therefore, asked the Austrian promoter to arrange for a bilingual public address announcer who was knowledgeable about the sport. That’s how Klaus and I came to work together.

  “Announce in English, then in Germ
an, so the players understand the announcements first,” I said.

  “English? No,” he protested. “I do German.”

  I was confused. Klaus was the bilingual announcer I had asked for. He may not have been entirely comfortable with English, but his English was far better than my German, and he clearly understood our conversation.

  Klaus, it turns out, was quite familiar with the sport, and indeed, a very competent bilingual announcer. But, in the western state of Tyrol in the Austrian Alps, bilingual announcers speak German and Italian. I debuted the next day as an English-speaking hockey announcer. This responsibility was added to the job I already had managing the overall presentation of the game.

  If you think this is an extreme example of being misunderstood because of language differences, you could be right. But, consider how often what we say is innocently misunderstood, misinterpreted, or miscommunicated between teammates and customers who speak the same language. This almost comical situation taught me the importance of being as clear as possible with directions, and more precise with my language. It’s a skill I know I will spend a lifetime trying to refine. This experience helped:

  • To sensitize me to the importance of being deliberate and thoughtful in communicating

  • To make sure I totally understand the information I receive

  • To make sure that my teammates fully comprehend plans and instructions that I am trying to articulate. The best way to find out is to ask them if they do.