Have you noticed that problems are solved and decisions are made differently today, especially by millennials? What’s the first thing that they do – and you probably do too, even if you are definitely pre-millennial? They Google it, of course.
Back in my day, pre-Google, we’d probably think about what we’d done before in similar circumstances, perhaps consult whichever was the prevailing canonical guide on the topic – updated at least once a year – and maybe phone a friend. Or, if we were really entering new territory, we’d call in the management consultants, who’d probably do much the same thing, just at a heftier price tag.
The upside of doing business today is that we have research, case studies, discussions, opinions, thought leadership and news related to our decision at our finger tips. The downside, however, is exactly the same. We have so much information, so many takes on a matter, and so many rabbit holes to explore that reaching a decision can be more difficult and time consuming than ever before. Welcome to analysis paralysis. But supercharged for the digital age.
Today we can’t afford to be hamstrung by inertia. A wait-and-see, ‘nobody ever got fired for choosing IBM’ approach is no longer tenable. We’ll be sidelined by start-ups who have no interest in preserving the status quo, as well as our nimbler traditional competitors, who took the opportunity to act. Meanwhile we’ll still be commissioning one last piece of research and running one more cost-benefit analysis.
Right now, we should all be considering the opportunity cost of doing nothing when figuring out what to do next. Which, I know, is a tough sell in a business world driven by short-term ROI objectives. In the past, cost of doing nothing projects typically related to maintenance type tasks. The equivalent of ensuring you service your car every year, even though it’s running perfectly well today, to avoid costly repairs in a few years’ time when a tiny niggle becomes a catastrophic breakdown. Or, to save every month on fuel, because you’ve kept your car running efficiently.
Today, in business, these projects are more significant. Such as deciding to spend time and money on the automation of manual, repetitive (and probably boring) work, to free up your time to be more strategic. And even reviewing systems that currently work but that could be improved would not be wasted energy to keep you and your business ahead of the curve.
This month and next, I discuss these cost of doing nothing projects elsewhere in this magazine. Happy reading and let me know what you think.
Three ways to zap inertia
Curtail your short-term ROI mindset. Next quarter’s figures are going to be irrelevant if your business isn’t around next year.
Quantify the cost of doing nothing as a matter of course. It won’t be perfect, but it will be on the agenda.
Decide! Choose a lighthouse project that gives you a toe in the water, then learn and improve.
As published Accountancy SA – 1st November 2017
http://www.accountancysa.org.za/viewpoint-give-inertia-the-boot/
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