Coaching practices for I've Got a Contingency Plan for Every Risk I Could Name and Yet Every Time It's the Thing I Never Listed That Actually Knocks Me Over I Want to Keep Some Real Reserve Set Aside for the Disaster I Can't Even Picture Yet Not Just the Ones on My List
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For I've Got a Contingency Plan for Every Risk I Could Name and Yet Every Time It's the Thing I Never Listed That Actually Knocks Me Over I Want to Keep Some Real Reserve Set Aside for the Disaster I Can't Even Picture Yet Not Just the Ones on My List, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I’ve got a contingency plan for every risk I could name, and yet every time it’s the thing I never listed that actually knocks me over
- I’ve ended up with this huge list of everything that could go wrong and now I’m just frozen by it
- When I ask myself "what could go wrong with this plan," I either draw a blank or come up with one vague worry
- My plans hold up fine until something throws them off
- I make a tight plan for the day, then the moment an interruption or emergency blows it up I feel like the whole day is ruined and I’ve failed
Practices that may help
- Build plans with slack for outcomes outside your model
Reserve capacity for events that are not in your risk model — because the most damaging events usually aren’t.
The Ludic Fallacy: When You Mistake Real Life for a Game - Rate each failure by likelihood and impact
Turn the raw failure list into a prioritized set of risks to mitigate.
The Pre-Mortem: Imagine It Already Failed - Run the basic pre-mortem
Assume the plan failed, then have everyone write down why.
The Pre-Mortem: Imagine It Already Failed - Plan for obstacles with coping plans
Anticipate the specific obstacles most likely to block your plan and pre-decide your response to each.
Action Planning - Begin the day with a reserve-clause plan
Plan tomorrow’s priorities in full — then add: "These are my intentions; how today actually unfolds is not entirely mine to determine."
The Stoic Reserve Clause - Run a premortem before committing
Imagine the decision has already failed — then ask why.
Thinking in Bets - Build room for error (margin of safety)
Plan so that being wrong is survivable, not catastrophic.
The Psychology of Money, Made Practical - Fear-setting — define the downside before deciding
Write out the worst case, the probability of each item, and the recovery plan before any big decision.
Lifestyle Design, Made Practical - Design decisions so they work even if some things go wrong
Ask: does this plan require everything to go right? If so, redesign it.
Margin of Safety - Name the assumptions that must hold for the plan to work
Every plan rests on assumptions — list them and ask how likely each one is.
Margin of Safety
Related concerns
- Black Swan Risk Planning
Reserve capacity for events that are not in your risk model — because the most damaging events usually aren’t.
Build plans with slack for outcomes outside your model
- If Then Risk Plan
If–then plans (also called implementation intentions) specify in advance how you will respond to the specific situations that typically derail your goals: "If situation X occurs, then I will do Y." A meta-analysis of 94 studies found a medium-to-large effect on goal attainment — one of the most reliable single techniques in goal-setting research.
- Survivability In Planning
Anticipate the specific obstacles most likely to block your plan and pre-decide your response to each.
Plan for obstacles with coping plans
- When The Psychology Of Money Room For Error
Plan so that being wrong is survivable, not catastrophic.
Build room for error (margin of safety)
- Contingency Planning Goals
Anticipate the specific obstacles most likely to block your plan and pre-decide your response to each.
- Failure Modes Planning
Imagine the project has failed — then ask which base-rate failure type caused it.
Run a pre-mortem from the outside-view perspective
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.