Which of these management mistakes will you make?

Illustration by Rachel Revilla

I was sitting in the boardroom of an Asian juggernaut, a food conglomerate that had been an unstoppable force across many Asian markets for decades. The new chair, who was a member of the owner family, looked depressed. He had real difficulty making decisions.

Many executives talked to me about this challenge of his when my team and I took on the project of making his entire group of companies future-proof and more profitable. As part of my role, I was also coaching him personally on how to become a more effective leader, how to improve communication across the entire organization and collaborate better with his teams; how to reach his peak potential and achieve more work-life balance.

Over-analysis leads to paralysis

Several members of his board pointed out to me that his weakness of not making decisions easily and fast had cost the company many business opportunities in the past. There was, for example, the product idea they had a few years ago that would have revolutionized the industry. And it did when it finally came out, but not for them.

They had been too busy debating the pros and cons because he asked them to collect more and more data until the competition finally put a similar product on the market—months earlier before they did. If your goal is to revolutionize an industry, you better be first!

In the process of coaching him, I found out what the root cause was: he had made a mistake years ago and that cost him and the family considerable money. He drew the wrong conclusions from that mistake. He thought that he now needed to analyze every bit of data available and collect 100 percent of the information before making any decision.

A few months into the coaching process, the chief financial officer approached me and said: “Our chair is more presidential now!” “What do you mean?” I asked. “He makes fast decisions and he executes,” he answered.

Execution is king

In my work with Fortune 500 CEOs and famous entrepreneurs, including self-made billionaires, I still have to come across someone who analyzed 100 percent of all available information before making a decision and became highly successful. You try to do that, you are dead. And the business along with you.

Because of our long history of successes, we are in a fortunate position to be able to select who we want to work with and also turn clients away. Why do we have a preference for clients who understand that execution is king?

Because they know what key variables they need to focus on, and what essential pieces of information they need to analyze. And they make decisions fast. This does not mean that they necessarily rush things or become careless. They simply know that 20 percent of the information that is out there is the most essential.

The best business leaders also write down the assumptions and principles behind their decisions so they can check back later and compare if the results were successful. They act decisively because they know that hesitation is the kiss of death.

Momentum drives success

US General Norman Schwarzkopf made a great comment once that it is much easier to correct the course of action of an object that is already in motion versus getting an object into motion out of inertia. That applies to business more than to anything else. You have to make decisions and take massive action. You can still correct your course but you will be a lot more successful if you move forward with maximum momentum.

As Henry Ford said: “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Time is not your friend if you get caught in inaction or fear of taking action.

Challenges in an organization only get bigger with time. And many business opportunities have been lost by standing still.

Plans are just dreams without proper execution

My team and I were advising the German owners of a group of companies in the publishing industry. They had a market leader position but were facing unforeseen enemies and urgent threats that could even become existential threats to the future of the group and its profitability. The owners had approached us to make their group future-proof, diversify the risk and create rapid growth strategies.

Once we created a clear road map for the next four to five years with their teams so that they could reach their profit goals, we asked them if they needed additional support in execution because we had analyzed a clear flaw in their past ability to put plans into action.

They did not see the need. Talk about a classic case of entrepreneurial blind spots. The negative consequences? They could not get their act together fast enough, the members of the owner family were too slow in execution, and blindsided by changes in the economic and political environment that could have easily been avoided if the people at the top had a radical execution mindset.

Why the road to failure is lined with perfectionists

It is because perfectionists do not create success stories and sustainable growth. Perfectionism is also not how you use market opportunities or develop great new products or services before your competitors. The best success recipe is not a great product; it is the MVP.

What does that mean? In technology, a “minimum viable product” (MVP) is a product that does not have all the desired features yet but just enough features so that it becomes usable by early adopters who will then provide feedback. The business can then use this feedback to improve product development, and so the cycle continues. You achieve a highly successful product or service much faster this way than trying to create a “perfect” product or service from the start.

The market, meaning your customers or clients, will tell you what to change or improve. The focus on releasing such MVP allows the business to avoid unnecessary and costly work. Instead, the success lies in responding to feedback.

Fail Fast – solutions and action steps

To “fail fast” or “fail forward” are frequently used aphorisms in Silicon Valley. As Mark Zuckerberg put it: “In a world that is changing quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”

What is at the heart of this concept of failing fast?

1. You take massive action toward your goals.

2. You inevitably encounter obstacles along the way.

3. You make mistakes until you figure out a way around those obstacles.

4. You correct your course of action and continue to take massive action toward your goals.

6. You encounter new obstacles.

Then the cycle repeats. At the heart of this cycle: speed and focus on action and execution.

Ask yourself if something is “good enough.” Do not ask if it is perfect. If it passes the test of “good enough,” execute. Focus on momentum and speed. Analyze the feedback you receive from the marketplace, your clients and customers, and improve.

The faster you progress along this feedback loop, the faster you will reach your goals because your rate of improvement will accelerate. INQ

Tom Oliver, a “global management guru” (Bloomberg), is the chair of The Tom Oliver Group, the trusted advisor and counselor to many of the world’s most influential family businesses, medium-sized enterprises, market leaders and global conglomerates. For more information and inquiries: www.TomOliverGroup.com or email

[email protected].