Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here.

Unintended consequences are common in business. Well-meaning managers often implement new policies only to find that in addition to what they envisioned, they’ve also created problems. You can’t predict the future, but you can help mitigate the negative with these two steps:

1. Plan ahead as much as you can. Gather the people the change will impact and scenario plan to see what might happen, keeping in mind that there will always be something that surprises you later.

2. Test the waters. Conduct short, focused experiments to see how various parties will react, and use the results to rejigger your plan. You can’t eliminate all negative possibilities but you can get ready to deal with them.

Today’s Management Tip was adapted from “Be Prepared for What You Don’t See Coming” by Ron Ashkenas.

To read that article and join the discussion, please click here.

Also, you may wish to check out the new book, Management Tips from Harvard Business Review, based on HBR’s Management Tip of the Day by clicking here.