Once that tough decision is made…act!
Getting to that tough decision is a process none of us cherish. Usually it involves taking action with people, or a decision/project in which we are personally vested. Whatever it is, the decision is not the toughest part. Its executing on the decision... All too often we delay, we find reasons to not act quickly.
I worked with a recently appointed CEO who was taking some steps to restructure, and as part of that was terminating the employment of a member of the executive team. The CEO was confident that the decision was the right one. He mentioned to me that this executive, amongst other things, was "poisoning" the team and the team culture.
However, the CEO started to tell me that they needed a few more months before taking action to release the executive. I asked, "If this executive is causing damage, poisoning the team, why do you not want to act fast? How much productivity are you getting by keeping them on to complete the tasks you have in mind. What do you think is the opportunity cost of that?"
We discussed the opportunity cost of prolonged bad behavior. We discussed how to address the issue with fairness; fairness not only to this individual, but to the rest of the team and the business. The CEO came to the conclusion that acting quickly was better. When we discussed this months later, they told me that many of the initial reasons to not act as quickly had to do with the personal difficulty of acting on the decision.
The tougher the decision, the tougher its execution.
We must go through a strong process to assess the dynamics of the situation to get to our decision.
But once the decision is made, be deliberate and act. Waiting, even for what appear to be valid considerations, most often is a move you will regret.
I worked with a recently appointed CEO who was taking some steps to restructure, and as part of that was terminating the employment of a member of the executive team. The CEO was confident that the decision was the right one. He mentioned to me that this executive, amongst other things, was "poisoning" the team and the team culture.
However, the CEO started to tell me that they needed a few more months before taking action to release the executive. I asked, "If this executive is causing damage, poisoning the team, why do you not want to act fast? How much productivity are you getting by keeping them on to complete the tasks you have in mind. What do you think is the opportunity cost of that?"
We discussed the opportunity cost of prolonged bad behavior. We discussed how to address the issue with fairness; fairness not only to this individual, but to the rest of the team and the business. The CEO came to the conclusion that acting quickly was better. When we discussed this months later, they told me that many of the initial reasons to not act as quickly had to do with the personal difficulty of acting on the decision.
The tougher the decision, the tougher its execution.
We must go through a strong process to assess the dynamics of the situation to get to our decision.
But once the decision is made, be deliberate and act. Waiting, even for what appear to be valid considerations, most often is a move you will regret.
Comments
Post a Comment