Will They, Won’t They? The Cost of Waiting for a Perfect Ending
Indecision is a decision. And it can be the most expensive option.
There are dangers to indecision. Waiting for the right moment and the perfect solution to start your transformation will already put you behind.
I have worked with an executive driving a change to design and implement a digitalisation programme. He knew, as everybody else in the company did that they could not maintain their market position unless they transformed their ways of working, from systems and processes to people behaviours. But. The programme was underway, but its leader was caught up in a loop of uncertainty. What if it was not the right platform? What if customers didn’t like it? What if a better solution would appear? Every What If question slowed progress, and the team spent more time assessing these questions than delivering a solution. How did it end? The digitalisation programme was delivered nearly 3 years late, costs ballooned, and the company lost market share to more nimble competitors.
Hesitation carries three hidden costs.
They don’t appear on the balance sheet and, therefore, often go unnoticed. Incumbents and larger organisations are in a weaker position, with their slower speed of action, legacy systems, and a work culture set in their way.
Competitive disadvantage. While you assess the situation and deliberate, competitors are moving fast. It used to happen in more established sectors. Still, even the most innovative companies are no longer escaping the pressure, as we have recently seen when DeepSeek suddenly burst into the GenAI space. Fast-moving competitors are attracting talent and customers.
Escalating costs. Delays increase resource costs, but not only. Inflation has been rising in most countries in the past few years, translating into higher vendor costs and materials. There is also a ‘rework tax’ when projects start and stop multiple times, are put on hold, or the scope changes in flight. Companies rarely consider these costs in their overall assessment of a programme.
Change fatigue. Indecision breeds uncertainty, and it is felt across all levels of the organisation. Top talent becomes frustrated by the lack of action and leaves. Employees lose confidence in their leadership capabilities. The initial enthusiasm for a change loses momentum, and motivation dries up.
Another client I worked with had to approve a decision to kick start an HR programme after a successful initial discovery phase. The outcome of the decision seemed straightforward at the time; in addition to the findings of the discovery, which supported the premises of introducing a new HR system, it was required to comply with future legislation, and the current system was approaching its end of life and no longer be supported by the vendor. Even within this context – and what looked like a straightforward Yes decision – it took this company’s board nearly 6 months to give the go-ahead. This came with an additional cost, and the project team came under pressure to squeeze their activities to keep them as close as possible to the original go-live date.
What is the cause of these delays?
The illusion of risk mitigation. We start from the premise that risk is bad and waiting reduces risk. The wait time is spent assessing the viability of different systems, vendors’ capabilities, and any other available options. In reality, waiting compounds the risk by making execution more difficult and expensive.
Fear of accountability. Approving a multi-million investment, with the uncertainty that comes with it, is a big decision. Some leaders delay it to avoid being blamed for a failure, waiting for the uncertainty to be dispelled magically. Instead, they become responsible for the inertia and unproductivity.
Over-reliance on consensus. We want to ensure we make the best possible decision and believe that the more people agree, the more likely that’s to be the case. This means endless meetings with stakeholders, even if they will experience no or only marginal impact. The more people involved, the slower the progress. If you want 100% consensus, you will never get anything done.
The perfection trap. The ideal conditions seem within grasp but never materialise. I remember the first change model I came across, Lewin’s unfreeze, change, refreeze. It made change look so easy but in reality no company ever stops for even the shortest time. Slower decision-makers lose out to agile competitors that launch imperfect products and then improve them over time.
How to fix it?
Set a decision deadline. We do this all the time for execution, so why not apply the same principle and set a deadline for approval decisions? Make it more salient by linking the decision to the go-live deadline – especially if it is driven by a legal or compliance requirement. Maybe include the cost of any delays.
A mindset of ‘Launch & Iterate’. The trial and approval process in pharma is slow. Some of it is necessary to ensure the safety of medicines, but not all. The speed of finding and making available vaccines during Covid is an excellent example of how a catalyst for change and willingness to break long-held habits can shift decision-making.
The 70% rule. Most decisions should be made when you have about 70% of the information you ideally want rather than waiting for certainty. Jeff Bezos advocates this principle to speed up decisions, maintain agility, and respond to the external environment. It also considers that some decisions can be tweaked if new information becomes available.
Identify a decision-maker. Even before a proposal is shaped, knowing who owns the final call is important. Seeking the opinion of stakeholders is essential for gaining input and support, but they need to be aware there is one owner with clear authority.
Create a bias for action. If the organisation’s culture veers towards inaction and consensus, and this is not going to give you the growth you want, then it may be time to start shifting behaviours towards action.
If you recognise some of the situations I described, it’s time for action. Every day or month of delay is a loss opportunity to gain ground in a competitive marketplace. What’s your next move?