Here’s this week’s 200 word idea from Decisive by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
At a time when concert safety wasn’t guaranteed, Van Halen did a 100 big concerts a year. Since their equipment required complex set up and high attention to detail, they needed a simple way to ensure their own safety. So, buried deep within their contract in clause 126 was a request that a plate of M&Ms be kept in the dressing room. However, the plate shouldn’t contain any brown M&Ms.
Thus, when Van Halen found a brown M&M in their dressing room, they cancelled the concert. They knew their event manager hadn’t really read through their contract and could be liable to make bigger mistakes.
Similarly, Ray Rothrock, a venture capitalist, checks if an entrepreneur has had more than 5 secretaries in the past 5 years – his brown M&M test. And, venture capitalist Hunter Walk sees a red flag if senior executive hires can’t bring over their employees from other companies.
Let’s look at setting up our “brown M&Ms” or triggers for decisions e.g. if we haven’t seen a movie with our spouse in 30 days, it’s probably a sign we aren’t investing enough in our relationship.
Source and thanks to: www.EBSketchin.com
‘Sometimes, the hardest part about a good decision is knowing a good decision needs to be made.’ | Chip Heath and Dan Heath
A Learning a Day 