In my own career I have been guilty of this on more than one occasion. I once hired a VP for a remotely located business unit and within 30 days of his start date, my gut was telling me this was not the right person for the job. I continued to invest in this person for 8 more months to prove to myself that my original decision was right. The opportunity cost to the company far exceeded the actual cost of paying this person’s salary.
I see examples of this in just about every business I work with. Often it occurs in important areas such as strategic decisions to enter a new market, sell a new product or service, or work with a new partner. People get so invested in their original decision that cutting their losses and moving on happens much later than it should. This results in a real cost plus an opportunity cost to the company that could have been significantly reduced.
So how do you thwart human nature?
Here are a few suggestions that have worked for me:
1) Set unambiguous, quantitative objectives upfront that must be met in specified timeframes (30/60/90/180/360 days) for the strategic decision to be viewed as a success and on-track.
2) For decisions related to people, the early objectives should be behavior based i.e. within their direct control.
3) If objectives are missed, don’t rationalize. Have a peer, who is not afraid to tell you like it is, review the situation. This will help you remain objective.
Being objective and being persistent are not mutually exclusive. Persistence is the key to most successful endeavors. When persistence is combined with objectivity, you have an unstoppable combination. Marshall Sylver refers to this as “failing forward fast”. This is to quickly recognize when a decision or course of action is flawed, cut your losses, adjust your course and move on toward the ultimate goal.
“Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong”
- Peter T. Mcintyre
- Peter T. Mcintyre
