Why Do We Keep Beating Dead Horses?
By today’s standards, my grandfather would probably not be considered an educated man, but he understands the process of how to fail fast. He had no formal college education, though his experience made him wise. You might say he had “street smarts”. He also had a way of using analogies and stories to teach us the ways of the world. He especially liked to use horse stories, with one of his favorites being the one about beating a dead horse. He used to say that a prudent man, once he knew his horse was dead, would either find a new horse or find another means of transportation.
If that is true, then why do we as entrepreneurs and as owners and managers of growing businesses seem to have such a hard time with such a simple concept? Why do so many of our strategies seem to be based on reviving the horse rather than accepting the fact that this horse is not going to take us where we want to go? Instead of moving on to a new horse, we try a bigger whip. If that doesn’t work, we try sharper spurs. Then we try to talk to the horse and coax it back to life. In the worst cases, we may even promote it, thinking that will wake it up.
The concept we are talking about is called “failing fast.” Instead of moving on to something better, we stay stuck in a routine. If we can “fail fast,” we will move on to more productive work faster.
We keep pouring our limited and often high-cost resources into a revival process. Then, when we finally admit that the horse is gone, we have no more resources to invest in our next horse.
When to Fail Fast
Knowing when to give up on the horse is important in all aspects of your business. It could be as large as your overall business strategy, products, or services. Think of all of the businesses that used to be viable but are no longer. The typewriter sales company, the small office supply store, the corner hardware store. The owners who knew they had a dead horse before it took its last breath, likely found a way to change horses and move on. But this idea also applies to smaller functions within our businesses and even to our employees and managers. Instead of facing the fact that a particular manager or employee is not going to change and become the star we had hoped for, we keep “beating” sometimes for years until we finally admit defeat.
In today’s changing environment, both economically and technically, owners and managers of growing businesses need to stop beating those dead horses and learn how to determine when it’s time to fold and move on. Here are some suggestions to help you accomplish this.
One is to never fall in love with your horse. If you do, admitting that it’s over and that you need to move on will be very difficult. It’s easier to leave emotion out of the decision if you simply like your horse. This may be really difficult for those who have nurtured and groomed their horse for many years, but you need to be strong.
Another is that the longer you wait, the less likely you will be to win the race. Your horse may not be still capable of getting you around the track fast enough and if you let the competitors get fresh horses before you do, you will likely be behind for a long time.
Finally, remember that just because it’s still breathing doesn’t mean that there is a future. Some of us feel that as long as the mirror fogs up there is still hope. The fact is though that even if we get the horse back on its feet, it’s still the same horse. The next time we try to have it perform, it will likely collapse again. If you let go of the horse and “fail fast,” you can move on and make your time better spent.
As my grandfather said, sometimes all it takes is a little logic and some common “horse sense”.
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