Among the great lessons I learned leading agile software development teams was the importance of acknowledging that you don’t have all the answers and the value in staying flexible with limited resources. Seek continual progress, not perfection. This lesson can apply to all functions of a business.

As we all strive to make sense of changing CDC recommendations and the resulting impacts on our business the importance of scenario planning and staying agile can be important. While each week seems to surface new questions about the economic outlook and new opinions about the future, decisions must be made on allocating resources, staffing, and spending.

Leading an agency in uncertain times is tough. While we acknowledge we don’t have clear answers, recognizing the likely and worst-case scenarios is important. Planning for various possible outcomes and the associated probability for each is an important part of leadership. Understanding what steps to take under each scenario will help avoid problems later.

Next steps: Discuss and debate the likely scenarios you should plan for. What are the three most likely outcomes the agency should anticipate, and what are the key strategies under each scenario? What is the cost of doing nothing? Create an objective scenario plan now to position the agency to be more effective later.

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