This one is going to hit deep for some of you. I promise: if I were writing about you specifically, I’d clear it with you first.
Across several organizations, I am noticing two patterns that look like opposites:
- Moving on too fast.
- Not moving on fast enough.
My emerging hypothesis is that they are actually the same thing – avoidance of discomfort. Let me explain…
Moving on too fast
This usually happens with programs.
Imagine you’ve adopted a new reading curriculum. Teachers need to learn it. Leaders need to support them. Students need enough exposure for any improvement to show up in their reading scores. That can take a while.
But the pressure starts much sooner: Is this actually working? Why aren’t the scores moving? Should we try something else?
Organizations sometimes respond by changing the curriculum, instructional model, or strategy before they’ve really learned whether it works. Foundations do this with funding priorities, too.
Do that often enough and you can spend years cycling through promising ideas without implementing one well enough to see the fruits of it.
This is why getting quick wins and tracking leading indicators matter. (Topic for another day.)
Not moving on fast enough
With people, I often see the opposite pattern: holding on too long.
There may be mounting evidence that someone is not a match for a role. The organization changed. The strategy changed. The job requires something different. Or it just wasn’t your best hire.
And yet: another quarter. Another restructuring. Another coaching plan.
Sometimes patience is exactly right. People grow, and organizations owe them clarity and support.
But waiting has costs, too. When the fit really isn’t there, delay consumes management time, creates uncertainty for the team, and keeps the person from finding a role where they might thrive.
So how do you know?
I increasingly think these two mistakes share a root: we don’t like discomfort. It’s not that some leaders are inconsistent by making some decisions fast and others slow – they are consistent by avoiding discomfort. When I look back on my own leadership, I see this same pattern across decisions where I recognize in hindsight that I moved too fast or too slow – I was avoiding discomfort in both cases.
We abandon programs too quickly to escape uncertainty. We hold onto people too long to avoid conflict, guilt, or disruption.
So if you’re noticing this pattern in yourself or one of your leaders, what can you do?
First, get enough headspace to think.
I suck at making strategic decisions when my adrenaline is high. Most humans do. Five minutes after an email gets you spun up, or while shoveling hummus between Zoom meetings (just me?), is a terrible time to make an important decision.
Be careful that “I don’t have the headspace” doesn’t become part of the avoidance.
Okay, once your nervous system is back toward baseline, three questions I’m finding useful for deciding if you should stay the course or move on:
- How strong is the evidence?
- If we continue on this path, what is the likeliest story 12 months from now?
- How much is today’s pain or pressure driving this decision or non-decision?
You might want more evidence, or you might already know the answer. Just be sure that your decision is based on your best judgment, even if that means a bit of discomfort in the short run.
Rooting for you,
Rob
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