ETU or Expect the Unexpected has never been more apt a saying than over the past 21 months. And, with a wee few headline (ha!) about Omicron to remind us as we start winding down for the calendar year and start planning our 2022… how should we plan?

A good question. I’ll give you two answers based on recent personal experience.

The first answer has been with us forever, however, it was enshrined in the minds of millions through Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouts – Be Prepared!

Last weekend I was away with some mates staying in a hotel and the weather was forecast to be horrendous. I said to them that I was going to bring full wet weather gear so we could press on no matter the weather. I asked if anyone wanted a spare pair of rain pants I had, and there was a taker. As I went past my golf bag to the car, I decided to throw in my extra golf rain jacket and pants in case someone needed them.

There were only five of us on this trip, and the chance of one of them forgetting, was on the cards -but not two! And you guessed it, off we headed on Saturday morning to buy another set of rain jackets and pants. Fortunately for my mate, the sales were still on and he scored a bargain ?

This leads on to my second answer – just keep moving ahead regardless.

The previous weekend (yes, catching up for lost time) I travelled to Melbourne to play a weekend of golf organised by one of my mates who had been doing it hard in Melbourne’s lockdowns. Organising it whilst scanning the horizon as to when the borders would open, helped keep him going during the last lockdown.

On the Wednesday before the weekend, he announces his double vaccinated son has COVID and he would need to isolate for 7 days as a close, double vaccinated, contact. What did we do? We pressed on, we kept in touch with him to help keep him going and he even subbed in his parents late one afternoon to have a drink with us. It was marvellous for them, us and my mate. We had just finished playing his golf course which he had been telling us a lot about in the lead up. He was feeling very chuffed.

And yes he caught COVID as well but everyone is fine. Just had to wait it out in isolation with cold-like symptoms for a few days.

To reiterate. Be prepared and keep moving ahead. We have proven we are good at adaptation and we adapt better the more prepared we are, so don’t forget to do plenty of scenario planning.

Stay safe!