Prudent Foresight: The Grand Imposition

"There is no better gain for mortals to win than foresight and a prudent mind."

---Sophocles in ELECTRA

I wish I had a nickel for every person I've met who described him/herself as a 'visionary.' Just last week someone was droning on and on about how keen his foresight was, but when I asked him if he remembered to bring the documents I requested, he, of course, did not! Foresight and seeing the horizon works if---and only if---you also have your eyes on the dashboard.

I also wish I had a nickel for every person I've met who described him/herself as a 'prudent' thinker. They're also self proclaimed as 'maximizers'---(insert eye-rolling here). These prudent maximizers know, or claim to know, just how to squeeze every last drop of efficiency out of a person or situation. If you're lucky enough to work with one, they aren't afraid to let you know just how inefficient you are AND they're not afraid to impose their ideas on you!

Not long ago, I had the unfortunate pleasure of running into what could perhaps be the absolute worst combination of personal traits---the "maximizing visionary!" Here is an example of how two people can take Sophocles' recommendation and run it afoul:

Ann was an editor for a widely popular magazine and journal publisher. She was also one of the lead people in her organization's public relations department. As many editors rely on their prudent maximizing skills to crank out hundreds of articles each year, Ann had maximizing prowess and was proud of it! In fact, her extreme prudence got her into some very hot water, when she was working on a webinar presentation with a self-proclaimed extreme visionary of his field.

Ann was assigned to be Dr. Snob's moderator for this highly acclaimed webinar, which had a global audience---estimated at 125,000 viewers. Ann was proud to be a part of this landmark event because she helped Dr. Snob coordinate the resources, edit the text and consolidate the talking points----the process was prudent every step of the way! Dr. Snob, on the other hand wasn't concerned with the minor details, in fact, he wished Ms. Prudent would leave him alone so he could convey his God-given visionary gift to the masses as he is destined to do so! Sounds like a volatile situation, doesn't it!?

If you've ever hosted a webinar, you know that the moderator has a pop-up screen (viewable only to the presenter) that allows him/her to communicate with the presenter while the session is live. Well, during Dr. Snob's life-altering presentation, Ann, being very prudent, maximized the use of that texting tool! In fact, she had text messaged Dr. Snob 159 times during the course of one hour! Here are a few examples of what she had typed to Dr. Snob:

"You're speaking a little too rapidly."
"You might want to explain that concept again."
"I think you have too many slides, we should have cut a few more out."
"Be sure to save enough time for questions."
"You have 45 minutes left, so pace yourself!"
"You have 30 minutes left, are you going to get all of your info in?"
"You have 25 minutes left, its not looking good."
"You have 15 minutes left, please hurry!"
"You have 10 minutes left, pick up the pace!"

This went on, literally as a countdown to how many minutes he had remaining, until he was finished (Which he DID complete on time with enough time for Q&A). Can you imagine getting 159 texts, with nearly all of them telling you how much time you have left and that you're not going to get all of your info in on time? Can you imagine how this expert in his field, this internationally renown VIP felt? Can you imagine how a visionary like Dr. Snob, who can see changes and trends that will happen decades from now, but wasn't trusted with planning 60 minutes into his webinar might have felt?

I'll tell you how he felt---he felt so strongly about this that he had a 'vision' of Ann's future---it included her getting fired! And that's exactly what happened! It turns out that Ann ruined Dr. Snob's timing and he delivered a sub-par presentation. The online reviews he received were average at best, and many reviewers were disappointed because they heard he was much better than what they had experienced. Worse of all, it actually cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost follow-up consultations and speaking engagements that would be offered from this particular audience.

Why couldn't Ann leave Dr. Snob alone? Why did she feel compelled to push her prudence onto a man who had presented his material dozens of times? Why did she become obsessed with him not finishing on time when she should have known that he knew what he was doing? Why did Dr. Snob leave that pop-up box open and allow Ann's notes to bother him? Why did he make a federal case out of her intrusive behavior and demand her termination?

Why? Because folks who are given the "gift" of a prudent mind and/or foresight can rarely attend to what is rational. Ego and compulsion drives them both as they endeavor to pull others into the center of their obsessive, self-centered universe. Of course, this example of the clash of these two ego-centric titans is extreme, but it's not uncommon.

This all boils down to what I call "The Grand Imposition"---if you have a gift, don't impose it on others and never assume you know what's best for anyone. So please pursue Sophocles' suggestion with caution: be prudent with your visionary prowess and foresee prudence in moderation!