Sounds like another oxymoron doesn't it? But it can be a very powerful management technique. No matter how well you have planned and are executing, something comes out of left field to mess it up at the worst possible time. So meeting are quickly called which typically result in numerous knee jerk reactions and a rousing "blame game" discussion ensues.
Stop.
This is the time for forward hindsight. I got this idea years ago (o.k. decades ago) in an English literature class after reading "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test". In the book they had a band which wore headphones when they practiced. There was a several second delay to the headphones. Which meant everything you heard had already happened and you had to anticipate what was coming next when you played your guitar. The interesting part was when you took off the headphones you could accurately predict what was happening several seconds in the future.
Now apply this to business. When disaster strikes, take the new information and project yourself several weeks or months into the future and see what the world looks like. Now use hindsight from that future point to look at today to see what decision you wish you had made. Many times you will clearly see what has to happen now.
Forward hindsight. Another technique to use to get the job done.
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