If you ever read the Harvard Business Review, it’s full of articles like ‘behaviours of successful CEOs’
If you’re dull enough to read those articles (as I definitely am) you’ll find that some of the successful behaviours of CEOs include being able to make decisions with 70% of the information – i.e. not procrastinating and waiting until they have the maximum amount of information (and almost always getting that right)
I think that is true, and it’s particularly true when it comes to when to stop the thing that isn’t working.
All the time in our businesses as we build them things fall away to the side and we move along.
It’s probably like dead branches on a plant that we prune to let the rest of the plant grow stronger, higher towards the sun and understanding that the branches sometimes have to be taken off to make the progress forwards for the plant. The same is true for your business.
Understanding when it’s right to stop a project, or a product or a process you have and moving on to something else is a key factor in understanding how to build a business. Being prepared to do that quickly, when you realise that is the case is another key ingredient.
Succeeding quickly, growing fast, making lots of money are all seen as being the indicators of success.
One of the hidden indicators of success is the ability to cut out the dead wood quickly and move along.