Murphy’s Law for Business: Sh*t happens

Sometimes bad things happen to good companies. Just look at Toyota’s current predicament. A great company with an enviable track record for reliable motor vehicles and a robust bottom line is now scrambling to clean up the mess created when the sh*t (faulty gas pedals) hit the fan (involuntary acceleration that has resulted in death in some cases).

Murphy’s Law states, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”, so the key to success in business is planning for the worst, while hoping for the best. One can never totally eliminate risks, but you can manage them and erect a safety net so that when problems occur, they can be swiftly resolved.

Susan Cramm of the Harvard Business Review explains why Murphy’s Law will always hold, and why leaders should plan for unintended disruptions.