Let the Chips Fall Where they May

People who say, 'Let the chips fall where they may,' usually figure they will not be hit by a chip. Bern Williams

I know this is not a new saying, but somehow it recently struck my fancy. I love
the idea of potato chips raining from the sky. Of course the quote is more of a
reference to cow chips than potato chips. Now YUCK who wants to be hit by a cow
chip?

Having dispensed with just a little bit of silliness for the day, let’s really look at
what this could mean. Another interpretation could be, ‘The person who acts
carelessly assumes they will not fall victim to their own carelessness’  or ‘The person who causes the chaos figures the chaos will not impact them’ or ‘Those who do not look before they leap, assume they will make a safe landing’.  I
am sure you can come up with your own variation of this expression too.

It comes down to this, there are some people who are not worried about the results of their actions. They either do not think they will be held accountable or
they do not think their carelessness will catch up with them. Maybe they just
do not have a ‘cause and effect’ mindset.  You should just kick them off the team. Hold on there a minute. You need these people.  You don’t necessarily want them to wreak havoc and cause the rest of us to be conked on the head by chips, but you do need their creativity and just a little bit of their ‘throw caution to the wind’ attitude.

Sometimes the person who does not worry about results can be a creative problem solver. This type of person feels completely free to come up with ideas and actions without worrying about what happens next.  Stay with me, this is a good thing.

How often do you or others on your team self-edit when solving problems or brain
storming? You kill an idea before suggesting it to others because you are
worried about what happens next. You do not make a suggestion because it might
sound crazy or irresponsible.

This is why you need your ‘throw caution to the wind’ counterparts. You are not
going to allow them to move forward with chaos. You are going to harness the
good parts of their idea and use your planning skills to come up with an
approach where you and the team can pretty much predict where the chips will
fall and when. Of course you will assign accountability to your chaos causer so
that he does begin to care where the chips will fall.