Before doing anything, it's a good idea to always ask the following four-word phrase: "What could go wrong?"

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Have you ever wondered who green-lit movies such as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? Before production for such a movie even started, did someone at some point say, "Hmmm, a blood-sucking vampire slasher movie and the U.S. President from the 1860s, what possibly could go wrong?" Well, critics ended up panning the movie as if it were a frittata. The movie didn't exactly do fang-tastically at the box office. And watching it in the movie theater kind of prompts one to ask questions like "What am I doing with my life?" So it was kind of a lose-lose situation for many.

That's why before doing anything, it's a good idea to always ask the following four-word phrase: "What could go wrong?" Ask that before sending an email, making a public statement, submitting a piece of work, making a decision, or doing anything that may make you eventually say, "Uh, maybe I shouldn't have done that." It's especially important to do when you are in some kind of a rush. After all, haste doesn't just make waste. It can make baste, as in, you can end up basting yourself.

That's because too often too many people don't really think enough before they act. How many times have you gotten an email where your reaction has been, "Did that person seriously write that kind of email to me?" For example, I know of someone who is notorious for writing rather rude emails and then subsequently turning around and saying, "I'm here to help." Really? How about helping stop those rude emails from reaching all of our inboxes?

Then there are the people who one day brush you off like dandruff or even backstab you and then the very next day ask you for some kind of favor. People remember when they feel disrespected or wronged in some way.

You can see what-were-they-thinking stuff sometimes every single day. And at times this stuff can be huge. Every industry is filled with seemingly obviously awful ideas that somehow got put into motion, costing many people time, effort, money, and other things. Think of how many times a Theranos, an FTX Exchange, a Cheetos Lip Balm, a Harley Davidson perfume, or an Astro Pants has manifested in different forms at different scales in different settings. In each case, did anyone in charge ever seriously ask, "What could go wrong?"

Routinely asking yourself, "What could go wrong?" can serve as an important checkpoint, like asking yourself, "Am I wearing clothes?" before walking outside. It can force you to take enough time to think when you are in a rush. It can help ensure that your responses or actions are not purely emotional and reactive. It can be an important check on your potential hubris, overconfidence, and "misunderestimating" others.

There are so many mistakes that seemingly in hindsight could have easily been prevented.

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It doesn't mean that you should always curl up in a ball while repeating, "Everything can go wrong." Asking "What can go wrong?" doesn't mean don't do anything. Instead, realizing what can go wrong can help you better structure your actions to prevent the things that can more obviously go wrong.

Maybe re-word that email so that it is more respectful. Maybe try to get buy-in from others rather than ordering them around. Maybe alter that project so that you can increase its chances for success. Or in the case of something like Theranos, maybe come up with and implement a Plan B because you gotta figure that someone at some point will realize that your product just doesn't work no matter how many ex-military generals you may have on your board. Of course, you can't possibly anticipate and prevent everything that may go wrong. But at least you can better circumvent the things that can clearly go wrong.

It really doesn't take too much time or effort to ask yourself these four words each time. So why not get into the habit of doing so? After all, what could possibly go wrong with such a strategy?