Musings: Problem solving vs. problem anticipation

I believe the same skills that contribute to creative and effective problem solving also contribute to creative and effective problem anticipation -- which is to say, imagining and planning for negative eventualities in order to prevent them from happening. Security professionals do this all the time. In fact, the lack of any such planning generally means that something bad can and will happen in the future. So I often find myself not only telling clients where they stand, but where they are realistically at risk. It's never so much "Build it, and they will come," as it is "Build it right, and they will keep coming."