This week’s focus: Politicians love to cry foul when they spot another party reversing a decision. In the UK, for example, there is currently a lot of heat about the government’s changes of mind on health service policy and prison sentencing.
But it’s better to reverse a bad decision than it is to pursue it regardless. And, at a company level, you sometimes need to let go of traditional businesses to make the most of new opportunities. Whitbread, for instance, no longer brews beer or runs pubs. Instead it has generated growth over the last decade through its focus on a hotel chain, Premier Inn, and its coffee shop business, Costa.
Where are you continuing to pursue bad decisions, bad strategies and bad businesses, when deep down you know that you should be cutting your losses and focusing on other, more attractive opportunities?
Off the record: Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen (and in memory of Clarence Clemons, his band’s legendary saxophonist, who died earlier this week)
Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack, I went out for a ride and I never went back
Like a river that don’t know where it’s flowing, I took a wrong turn and I just kept going.
© Stuart Cross 2011. All rights reserved.