Famously, Murphy’s law suggests that:
“Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”
While this might seem like a seriously negative way to perceive things, the truth is that it can often seem highly accurate – particularly when we find ourselves in stressful situations. While the real truth may be that the law of averages ensures that positive, and negative outcomes are both equally likely – our perception of the world can make Murphy’s Law seem more common.
Why Murphy’s Law Matters in Event Management
Murphy’s law can have a part to play in almost every aspect of business and life – as assuming the worst can often mean that you’re more adequately prepared for whatever might happen. Despite the proven benefits of positive thinking – there is something to be said for taking the time out to think like Murphy, and assume – just for a moment – that everything might just go wrong.
In event management, there are always two possible scenarios. The first is that everything will go smoothly, and there won’t be any problems to worry about, whereas the second suggests that you’ll have to deal with a major disaster. Though it’s often more comforting to assume that the first scenario will take place 99% of the time – the truth is that preparing for the second might be better for your event, and your business.
Using Murphy’s Law as a Planning Tactic
As an event manager, you’ll be responsible for dealing with a lot of important things – from ensuring that a venue is suitable for a particular occasion, catering has been dealt with, and even making sure that there’s adequate parking for attendees to use. With so much to think about, it’s easy to overlook certain aspects that could lead to disaster.
However, using Murphy’s Law as a planning tactic can allow you to look at each aspect of your management career more closely, meaning that every time you prepare for an event, you also prepare for every possible negative outcome.
By brainstorming the things that are most likely to go wrong, you can determine potential reactions that you can use to fix the scenario as quickly, and effectively as possible. For instance, if your caterer drops out at the last second – do you have a local backup that you might be able to turn to? If the electricity in your venue suddenly fails, is there a generator there that can keep the event going? What about if your venue doesn’t have enough parking space – are there alternative modes of transport available?
Using Murphy’s law, event managers can assume the worst is going to happen, then take reasonable precautions against those possible disasters.
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