Related Articles
Even with “all the best-laid plans” (adapted from a line in “To a Mouse,” by Robert Burns), there will still be a monkey wrench. Even if you prepared for Plan A, B, C, D, etc. Keep this in mind before judging or criticizing, please. I have many stories to back up this theory, but let’s talk about the most recent one in Los Angeles for a live event I was producing.
This was a venue filled with a great team, great guests and great creators. (AKA: All the best-laid plans.)
Half an hour before showtime, the monkey wrench got thrown in:
• One staff’s Uber car broke down on the highway
• One staff had to go home sick
• One staff got rear-ended near the venue
• One venue staff had a meltdown — targeted at me — in front of everyone
• My top staffer was not “on their game” because when I tried to get back on track, I fully realized that was not going to happen.
• One staff slept for three hours during production
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
What I chose to do and hope to always do is “think human” — or think with empathy. What that means is, from a critical or judgmental prism, one cannot think human.
Minutes before showtime, knowing I am down half the staff and my main venue person is not calm, I regrouped the remaining team. Without mentioning the above, I asked the remaining team to help each other’s areas while making sure to have a balance of enjoyment, breaks, etc., rather than being fully dedicated to their area as originally planned. They did this brilliantly, but could not physically do so for all areas. So, even though I was front and center, on stage, how things run is my responsibility, so I picked up that slack.
What does this mean? As effortlessly as I could, I moved the mic often onstage, moved the table to the side while I was speaking and brought audience members I knew on stage to help with show tasks that needed more than one person — all as if part of the show.
I could have woken up the sleeping staffer or demanded/coerced the others to stay. Even at the risk of “looking” less than professional, I chose to have empathy. These are hard times financially, personally and socially for most. Let those who the monkey wrench is affecting most have a less stressful time of it and be kinder. I hope I succeeded.
Perhaps the true test was when, before the last section of the show in the five-minute break, the security guard asked if I needed anything and I said “Yes, please.” I was wearing the most gorgeous and uncomfortable shoes on the planet while I was now moving the mic and table throughout the first part of the show. My feet were in pain. I asked them to grab my flats from my bag, which was on the opposite side of the venue, and told them where they were. Not only did they do that, they graciously took the heavy gorgeous shoes to where the flats came from. That security guard was thinking human and saved me in a different way than they were hired for.
Here are a few ways you can prompt yourself to think human when in a tough situation:
How does this new information affect safety or health right now? That should be your top priority. We cannot replace humans, but we can replace things. Ask yourself what you can do right now to make this situation a win/win. That means if the person does not know what is wrong or what they want, you have to assess and honestly evaluate that. There are probably a billion variables for any situation, so your level of life experience comes into play.
So next time you’re in a pickle, try thinking human while you’re solving the problem.
