Timing is All: Wait. Wait. GO. Now!; Are These Unprecedented Times We Live In?
Before we get into in: May we get to live in uninteresting times from now on.
We don’t talk much about it but so much of business success comes down to knowing when and how to wait out certain things.
And knowing when you shouldn’t wait.
Basically, knowing when to move is a super skill.
It’s a skill – you can develop it. Having varied experiences solving complex issues in different settings makes this infinitely easier.
For some, wanting to react immediately, to move and do something, anything, when things are slow, or when something doesn’t go your way, is so instinctive they cannot imagine NOT reacting. For them the idea to wait something out, to wait for anything, is preposterous. But hear me out.
Here’s what’s important:
Recognising (even foreseeing) the obstacle that will tank your plans
Deciding to wait it out (because you really want this) and in the meantime, you need to
o Work on changing your circumstances or
o Refocus on something else that will hopefully also help with your original plan
Clarity on what will signal when the time is right – preferably with some lead time
Being ready to move just a bit ahead of when the time is right
Why
Sometimes the odds (or the market) are against you. It’s not that what you want to do is wrong, or not right for your business or your customers – it’s just now is the wrong time to do it.
Perhaps you need to wait for certain technologies to develop. Uber wouldn’t have worked before smartphones.
Perhaps you need regulation to change. Or customers’ tastes need to change, or a society’s values need to catch up.
Perhaps your opponent or competitor is suddenly in such a strong position you cannot compete on your current terms. Perhaps you have no way to access the kind of hugely expensive or rare resources they have.
Or some other external thing poses too huge an obstacle – and it is better to wait out until it is removed. There are many types of businesses you wouldn’t have wanted to launch during the lockdowns – the kind that required people to be in physical proximity to each other, for example. Equally, it is a mad idea to premier a dystopian TV show about a deadly pandemic six months into a deadly global pandemic (I am looking at you, Utopia).
I am not saying you shouldn’t act, you shouldn’t react, when things are not going your way or are not happening at all. What I am saying is that it is important to develop the wisdom to know when to do and when to wait.
And that is not easy.
In fact, I’d say that knowing when to move and when to wait is one of the most critical strategic skills for success. I am also saying that even if you are not naturally strategically brilliant you can develop this skill over time by trial and error and by observing more senior people in their decision-making.
How
To be able to wait things out you need not only the ability to see (and foresee) the obstacles. You also need the ability and resources to survive until a better moment arrives.
As a business, you need