The renowned author for your literary organization’s gala fundraiser falls ill. The easy solution is to cancel. The school buses contracted to shuttle spectators from a remote parking lot to the World Cup ski race are forced to abandon their shuttle route and pick up school students after the district pivots to an early school dismissal due to weather. The easy solution is to blame the snowstorm. The venue you booked for a conference forgot to provide projectors, so the keynote speakers had to adjust their presentations. The easy solution is to focus on the vendor’s mistakes.

These unplanned moments offer an opportunity for our values to be lived, not just recited. If we talk about ideas such as resilience, grit, determination, people-first, collegiality, we can come together and deliver an unscripted performance. Occasionally, these instances of misdirection reveal an even better experience. People cheer for us when we are working to overcome the elements. How might we use disruption to delight our fans?