Opinion
Your horse may still be dead in 2011
Blimey, where has this year disappeared to? I know it’s a sign of getting old when you say that the time passes quickly, but this year really has been a roller coaster ride. However, we’re at the end, and time for a bit of reflection.
Recognise that when something isn’t working for you, have the honesty and courage to stand back and call it
I don’t know about you, but my reflection on this year and anticipation of next leaves me with mixed emotions – proud of some great achievements and excited but slightly nervous about the ongoing challenges ahead as we continue to grow our business.
One of the key insights I take away from this year is the need to recognise that when something isn’t working for you, have the honesty and courage to stand back and call it. Whether it’s a service offering, product, team or initiative that isn’t delivering what you hoped it would, now is the time to think again and re-plan in order to take a different approach for the new year. Life is too short to keep trying the same thing and not getting the results you want.
The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that when you discover that you’re riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. In the corporate world and government, however, a whole range of far more advanced strategies are often employed, such as:
- Buying a stronger whip.
- Changing riders.
- Threatening the horse with termination.
- Sending a member of parliament to see how other countries ride dead horses.
- Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.
- Harnessing several dead horses together to increase the speed.
- Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse’s performance.
- Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse’s performance.
- Declaring that, as the dead horse doesn’t have to be fed, it’s less costly, carries lower overheads and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line than do some other horses.
- Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.
- Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.
- Keep reassessing the horse until it rises from the dead.
Have a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!
Richard Ferguson is director of Sensei UKE
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Richard Ferguson is director of Sensei UKE
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Your comments (1)
nathanwill said on 22 Dec, 2010:
This guy is spot on, as usual. Best blogger on Foodbev!
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