Are you leading or waiting?

I often hear executives talk about some new initiative they need to take. It might be something that would solve a big problem, like increasing their peoples' loyalty to the organization. Or it might be something that would create loads of new value, like getting different silos in the business to start working together on innovations that benefit the customer, rather than squabbling over budgets and turf.

Whatever the issue, they’ll do a good job of convincing me that it’s important and urgent.

Then they’ll say: “But we won’t do it YET. I want to WAIT until I can dedicate more resources, give people a good run at it, get these hires completed...”

I call this “Getting ready to prepare to start to change”, and it’s one of the major causes of slow progress towards strategic goals.

“But,” you might protest, “I really do need to wait.”

And the rationale will be solid, no doubt.

The thing is, though, that when the appointed time finally comes around, you may find:

• Someone else has now grabbed those resources you were going to use.
• The people you earmarked are now busy with other new things (people are always too busy, aren’t they? They rarely get an absolutely clear run at anything.)
• While you’ve been making those new appointments, one of the existing team members you were counting on has left your organization for pastures new.

And perhaps most concerning,

• Your competitors have not been waiting for you to get ready.

The timing is never ideal. Sometimes, waiting for it to become ideal is just that: waiting. One CEO I know has a sign on his wall to inspire him. It show the words of Marshal Ferdinand Foch, French General and Allied Supreme Allied Commander during the final year of the First World War, credited by historians for the strategy which secured the Allied victory. This is what the sign says:

Mon centre cède, ma droite recule, situation excellente, j’attaque.

(My centre is giving way, my right is retreating, situation excellent, I am attacking.)

General Foch understood the danger of the delay: if you wait for perfect conditions, you will wait a long time (and conditions might actually get much worse). If it’s really important, the time is now.

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If you want to think clearly about this, a framework can help. Try this exercise, from my book Start With What Works: A faster way to grow your business.

EXERCISE: How Dangerous is Delay?

Think of an important initiative that you are waiting to start because conditions are not yet right. Let’s re-examine your assumptions.

1) Consider ROI

• On a scale of 1..10, where 1 is trivial, and 10 is game-changing, how impactful are the potential results of this initiative?
• What are you losing by delaying? Are you forgoing revenue? Are you disappointing customers? Are you ceding advantage to your competitors?
• What if you never do this initiative?

2) Consider the pre-conditions for launching the initiative. They are likely to include cash, personnel and time, but there may be others too.

• Of those pre-conditions that are in place, how sure are you that they will still be available “when the time is right?” Will you still have the budget? Will you still have key people?
• Of those pre-conditions that you are waiting for, how many are MUSTS, and how many are just WANTS that you could do without?
• How many of the pre-conditions you are waiting for could you actually make happen yourself, now, rather than waiting?

3) Consider consequences

• What’s the best thing that could happen if you wait?
• What’s the worst thing that could happen if you wait?
• What’s the worst thing that could happen if you get started now?
• What’s the best thing that could happen if you get started now?