This week I have been listening, with a heavy heart, to accounts of the 9/11 attacks and the aftermath of the worst violation of our country’s safety and innocence. There are so many memories of that horrible day that will never escape our thoughts. As the U.S. worked to come to grips with what happened and find answers to far too many questions, one statement from the 9/11 Commission stood out as a signal to all…There was a failure of imagination.

As sophisticated as our intelligence apparatus is, as protected as we think we are, and as bold as we always try to be…the U.S. seemed to never imagine what took place, and thus we were not prepared to prevent it. This statement has stuck with me for the past few days as I see how applicable it is to everything – A failure of imagination. Thinking about what could be (even if it is far-fetched), what might be (given our lack of preparedness), the ripple effect of decisions, the foreseen and unforeseen challenges, the limitless opportunities that are just beyond our current reach and the planning to stay ahead of the obvious and not so obvious by asking, “WHAT IF”, seems a logical approach.

This finding from a commission of experts focused on uncovering mistakes and finding answers, applies to each of us, every day, in our work and our personal lives. It is applicable in business and industry, in education and healthcare, in politics and diplomacy, and yes…in restaurants and other types of food related businesses. How often do we ask, WHAT IF, and how often are we ill-prepared for what comes next? How often do we repeat our mistakes because our future thinking fails to stay the course? How often do we let our guard down?

If we remove safeguards to our food inspection system – what might go wrong? If we cut health benefits for the needy – what happens to our rural hospitals that depend on federal healthcare programs? If we loosen the TSA requirements at airports, do we open the door for another terrorist attack? If we promote ill-founded concerns over vaccinations, what protects us from serious disease that has all but been eradicated from our lives? If higher education fails to pay attention to the changes in attitude about formal degrees and concern over their value, what will be the impact on enrollment and viability of colleges? If our education system fails to see the need for and value of training for the trades, who will fill those necessary roles in the future? If we continue to ignore the cry for help coming from Mother Earth, what will it mean for our way of life and that of future generations? We know that many have unquenched thirst for the wonders of technology. Today, we are driving full speed ahead with Artificial Intelligence, but only in the past few days have we begun to ask serious, “what if” questions that foretell impending dangers of AI without controls. What if the fears now expressed are valid? Where is our imagination before we face something that could be catastrophic? We saw what happened with Covid – even though there was much research taking place on the likelihood of a future pandemic, we were not prepared. What if, we had been asking, WHAT IF? If we allow our government to be taken over by greed and those who disregard the foundations of the Constitution, what will it mean for the United States and our place in the world? And, if the restaurant industry fails to show imagination when it comes to product, service, concept, and the way it treats employees – how will it survive and continue to thrive? What happens to hospitality and the value of restaurants as meeting places, so important to a healthy community?

Young children have limitless imaginations when it comes to the life they live. We are born to ask questions. We thrive, at an early age, on testing the waters and creating our own destination and outcomes. Somehow, over the next decades of life, this natural inquisitiveness and ability to envision challenges and opportunities seems to lose its footing.

We need to encourage future thinking and those who question the way things are. If we want to be prepared for a brighter future, it must begin with plenty of opportunity to ask: “WHAT IF.”

Is it time to have those conversations at home, at work, in our classrooms, and in our restaurant kitchens? Food for thought.

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER – ASK WHAT IF

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