My best friend came to visit a few weeks ago from Pennsylvania.
A few days after she left, I remade the bed that she had used. Unfortunately, my pinky toe and the bed post collided and I was left with a nasty bruise on my left foot.
Although it was sore, I did not think much about it because I have stubbed my toes in the past.
The first week after my accident, I went to the gym as usual to take my exercise classes.
About a week after I hurt my toe, I suddenly had a shooting pain so bad that I had to leave class early which I was not happy about.
My bff is a nurse so she suggested Aleve as well as elevating it and applying ice packs which I did for several days. By the end of the week, it still was quite sore, so I went to the walk-in.
The doctor on duty said the toe was not broken but she wanted to take x-rays to be on the safe side.
Well, that was not the case, and she admitted that she was wrong. She scheduled me for a visit with the podiatrist for the following week.
He confirmed my predicament and said that it would heal in a few weeks but to be very careful.
I could still go to exercise classes but no hot yoga for a while.
Companies get the occasional broken toe too.
Senior leaders spend hours/days on strategic planning but how many determine what to do if they hit a roadblock?
Not every company has a risk department and/or a governance committee that identifies potential problems or threats and more importantly, figures out what actions should be taken.
Lastly some leaders may brush off concerns until it is too late because they did not consider if the impact will be great or small.
In life, how many people really take the time to question if the action they take will be too big of a risk or not? 
Some colleagues I know are very risk averse but that can also be a problem because their inability to try something new can make their skills obsolete.
The common reason they do not try new things is because they are fearful – of looking stupid, of not being able to get it done to their level of satisfaction, or simply it is out of their comfort zone.
Leaders need to understand that not everyone handles risk the same way.
Some will “go for it” very quickly and may even break a toe in the process but they keep trying.
Others will want to analyze every aspect and then begrudgingly go along with it, or if it is too much, they may leave the company.
This is why leaders really need to add something to their strategic planning process.
I call it “the temperature check”.
Just as you check one’s temperature when you are sick and/or going to the doctor, savvy leaders will have it scheduled in their plan to check in with more junior staff to see how things are going, not just once but several times throughout.
It is not just “okay” or “good” or some other vague description, but more of a comprehensive approach that delves into what is being done, whether it’s being done on time, who the active members were and who were not, what has been learned so far, and what needs to change.
In addition, what is the attitude now of the staff members?
Even those who were “gung-ho” about the new initiative at first may soon realize that it’s not what they thought it was going to be, and those who were opposed may realize it’s not that bad or even better than they way it was before.
As the quote goes “measure twice, cut once”, try asking your team several times and then pivot, if need be. This way there should be less broken toes that need to be healed.