Things happen that catch you off guard, and you cannot always control that. Many times, though, you can…you just don’t.

Very often we get signs that something is happening or a trend is developing, but rather than looking into how it can affect us, we ignore it. It is kind of like getting sick but refusing to go to the doctor…by the time you do, the problem may be a lot worse than if you had just dealt with it up front.

Why do we often ignore emerging problems or opportunities? A common answer is “I am too busy dealing with reality to deal with ‘maybes.'” The logic goes that you cannot deal with every possibility, so it is easy to justify not addressing something.

But does “dealing with maybes” really take all that much effort? If you know a change is coming in your organization, in your market, or in your field, how much effort does it take to sit down with a few people and ask “what is the effect on us if this happens?” You may determine the effect is minimal, and not worry about it anymore. You might decide that it could affect you, but the response to that is out of your control. Or, you might figure out that there is something you can do to counter the effect, and maybe even keep a problem from occurring or encourage an opportunity to emerge.

That is the thing to do: think about what you can do, and then if it is feasible, do it. Perhaps you can keep a problem from popping up, and shape your environment rather than responding to it after the fact. If not, then maybe you can figure out how you would respond to something if it happens, and then take whatever steps you can to mitigate potential bad effects or take advantage of opportunities. Sure, if you prefer, you can just sit around and ignore it, but if it happens — whether good or bad — you are going to have to respond to it anyway, so why not exercise some control over your response?

In many knowledge-based fields your job is develop new things, so “change” should not be unique, and both problems and opportunities should be expected. Change can come from internal innovation, and there are also plenty of changes that can come from the outside, which everyone faces. A friend of mine works in a fairly new division of a company, and a new executive is about to come in above them. “What if he decides to just get rid of our division? What then?,” she asked her supervisor, who did not have an answer. That is a pretty serious threat, so they need to be thinking about 1) how to keep that from happening, and 2) what they are going to do with everybody if it does.

Far too often we’re surprised by things that should not be surprises at all. We just need to get our heads out of the sand and take a good, realistic look at the world around us.