Most failures in strategy are failures in not making choices or recognizing trade-offs. It about saying “yes” to something and “no” to other things. When you don’t choose, people will choose at random, for you.
People also want to have it all. They think choices are positive or negative. But there is always a cost in a choice and you must be willing to pay the price.
P.S. I'm a fan of 'Good Strategy, Bad Strategy' by Rumelt.
Good point about wanting to have it all. I think the traditional shortcut most of us have with choices is 'pros/cons' lists which can work until you reach a stalemate (both look equally good and bad)
I also suspect one reason 'no choice' happens, at least in large organizations, is there's too much baggage around it. Too many stakeholders, ripple effects and career recoil can hit hard if the decision turns out 'bad'.
(Which is another thread on how to sell the decision I guess)
Also inheriting decisions from others is an interesting thread - maybe another blog can go there.
You're right on here... from my own notes:
Most failures in strategy are failures in not making choices or recognizing trade-offs. It about saying “yes” to something and “no” to other things. When you don’t choose, people will choose at random, for you.
People also want to have it all. They think choices are positive or negative. But there is always a cost in a choice and you must be willing to pay the price.
P.S. I'm a fan of 'Good Strategy, Bad Strategy' by Rumelt.
Thanks for reading! And subscribing 👋
Good point about wanting to have it all. I think the traditional shortcut most of us have with choices is 'pros/cons' lists which can work until you reach a stalemate (both look equally good and bad)
I also suspect one reason 'no choice' happens, at least in large organizations, is there's too much baggage around it. Too many stakeholders, ripple effects and career recoil can hit hard if the decision turns out 'bad'.
(Which is another thread on how to sell the decision I guess)
Also inheriting decisions from others is an interesting thread - maybe another blog can go there.
IMHO a lot of it comes down to: leaders lacking conviction.
If they lack conviction...
- they can't sell a decision
- align stakeholders that disagree
- deal with fall-out from those who aren't onboard
- persist through the difficulty of implementation (when every idea ends up looking bad)
- and so on