New-school thinking: three old-school principles—ego, speed, and solutions—are hurting organizations and must be expelled

T+D, Oct, 2003 by Steve Smith, Dave Marcum

When we do our homework and apply good business acumen and new-school thinking, it answers the Jurassic Park question: Of all of the things you could do as a business, what are the vital few you should do? Are you so preoccupied with coulds (events that keep everyone busy but are really distractions to the business) that you don't stop to think about the shoulds (actions with strategic, relevant progress)?

With unlimited choices and limited resources, coulds have killed a lot of businesses. Making the move from all of the coulds to the relevant shoulds means your decisions will lead to solutions, not distractions, that produce significant return or impact for the time, people, and money invested. That's where the business reality of ROI enters the picture. Business isn't solely a cause with great ideas. Causes and great ideas can be compelling and inspiring, and still go out of business quickly; just ask a few startups. It's not just about a mission. In business, there is no mission without money.

The top and bottom lines

"Profit is like oxygen, food, water, and blood for the body; they are not the point of life. But without them, there is no life," wrote Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in their book, Built to Last.

That doesn't mean you should dismiss your mission, ideas, talent, creativity, intellectual freedom, vision, or anything else. It does mean that unless those qualities result in ROI--unless they deliver impact--they're dead. We're not saying that's good of bad. It just is. If ROI is embraced and ideas frequently don't work at your company, then the ideas and decisions need more attention. The missing piece in many decisions is an accurate, complete picture of the R (return) part of the ROI equation.

Think about the last key decision you made or solution you saw ignited. How clear was the R to you and others? How clear was the return or impact to clients or the market? In far too many cases, the R isn't easy to find and many people don't know how to achieve it, of they have hastily and prematurely set their sights on the I (investment) part of the equation, often because they don't really believe in the return. The I turns into a C (cost, and costs without any return are always too high.

When people don't stop to think through the real, underlying issues that need to be addressed by any solution, here are some of the downsides:

* Scarce, limited resources are siphoned from real solutions to distractions.

* Everything becomes a priority, and almost nothing gets enough attention to succeed.

* Chronic problems aren't solved, and the pain of the symptoms becomes embedded in the daily culture that everyone, slowly, just lives with.

* Costs are driven up.

* New, compounded problems arise from the wrong solution.

* Time and attention are diverted to competing coulds.

* Activity is mistaken for productivity and progress.

* The crucial underlying business issues remain uncovered.

* You're relegated to being a functional worker and lose invitations and opportunities to have a seat at the strategy table.