That hot-footed cat is ready to jump as soon as its paws get too hot. You should be too. The best ways to be able to move away from a mistake about an irresistible force are to keep your commitments as low as possible for as long as possible and to have contingency plans in place.

How can your commitment to pursuing benefits from the irresistible force be kept low, without harming your opportunities?

Many people will dive headfirst into the opportunity, but you may be able to ease into the water instead and get the same benefits. This approach allows you to take advantage of important learning that will influence how well you succeed when you do eventually dive in.

For example, you may be able to rent rather than buy resources, and you may be able to outsource key activities with a short-notice cancellation clause. A small scale beginning may also be helpful in keeping your costs and chance of near-term loss low.

On the other hand, before deciding to start small, consider whether you are in a race with someone else to garner the benefits. For instance, many companies were slow to seek out URLs (addresses) on the Internet in the early days, and later could not get the addresses that were most logical for them to have because someone else got there first.

What events should happen before it makes sense for you to commit more resources?

Every new program requires certain types of success before the desired results will be achieved. For example, a new product may need to make your customer much more efficient before it will be worth purchasing. The efficiencies achieved by customers during tests could be then a trigger point to determine whether and when to make the product widely available.

Trigger points are useful tests that tell you that it is a good idea to continue with what you have been doing or to proceed on to something else. If the trigger points are never reached, no further resources are committed. Naturally, if something vastly different from what expected occurs that is worth pursuing, you can design new trigger points to deal with your new learning.

What events, should they occur, would indicate a need to steer a new course or reverse direction?

These events could relate either to your monitoring the irresistible force to indicate that its power and direction are shifting, or to the effectiveness of your own activities in this area. In the former case, you will want to amend your direction. In the latter case, you will want to revise your plan or how you are executing the existing plan.

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About the Author

Donald Mitchell is an author of seven books including Adventures of an Optimist, The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage. Read about creating breakthroughs through 2,000 percent solutions and receive tips by e-mail by registering for free at http://www.2000percentsolution.com .