Strategy, Results and Distractions
- Beware Low Hanging Fruit!
Is your organization quick to pick the low hanging fruit? Do you
gravitate first to the quick and easy? Are you prone to delay the
bigger projects until you get those little ones out of the way?
Low hanging fruit is, by definition, quick and easy to implement,
thus the lure to pick it is compelling. And picking the first piece
usually exposes another, leading to an infinite quantity of low
hanging temptations. While some of these quick fixes make excellent
investments, many do not, and the nearly infinite supply can become
a black hole for your limited resources.
Not only are the quick and easily-visualized fixes compelling,
but the more important, strategic opportunities are often exactly
the opposite because they can involve fundamental changes in how
things are done. The most important initiatives will create an organization
with new capabilities, new capacity, and new potential. These often
require disruption to people, processes, resources, policies and/or
technology. The complexity and level of departure from the norm
can make both the goal and the path harder to visualize. The need
for analysis and tough decisions ensures that many important opportunities
will never be mistaken for low hanging fruit.
Here are some examples of low hanging temptations:
"Let's get this system working right first" -- Increasing
cycle count accuracy for inventory that should be disposed of
"First, let me catch up on my email" -- Reading, sorting
and responding to email that does not contribute to the goals
of the company
"I just need to get organized" -- Reorganizing files,
electronic or paper, that are rarely, if ever, used
"I know I can buy these parts for less somewhere else."
-- Finding a cheaper supplier for a part that would disappear
with strategic product positioning
"While we are at it…" -- Adding that extra software
feature while you are in the process of making other changes –
"we'll have to test everything anyway"
One glance at the diagram below accentuates the dangers
of pursuing low hanging fruit. You can readily see that success
likely depends on a combination of easy and difficult tasks. You
can also see that if your efforts are driven first by ease of implementation,
you will squander resources on low hanging, unimportant fruit.
Are Your Resource Decisions Driven by Low Hanging Temptations?
The most important factor determining the impact of low hanging
temptations depends on how clear your employees are about your strategic
objectives. Employees make decisions all day long that consume resources.
If they do not know and understand your strategic objectives, they
will pursue low hanging fruit. The only way to find out what they
are thinking is for management to ask and listen.
Beyond that, you can listen for comments indicative of quick fixes,
"We need to get a few things fixed and out of the way before
we can start a bigger project." Strategic initiatives are rarely
described as "getting things out of the way."
If you want to avoid the temptation of low hanging fruit, the following
are critical:
- Have a clear strategy -- A clear strategy, well-communicated,
with realistic expectations and only a few top priorities for
any one individual makes it easier for everyone to focus on the
right things.
- Assess each idea for strategic fit -- Forget ease or difficulty
of specific actions and determine the value of an idea relative
to the strategic goals first. Assess ease second. There is nothing
wrong with choosing an easier path as long as the strategic benefits
are equally strong. But resist the temptation to invest in high
ease/medium strategic over medium or low ease/high strategic.
- Remain vigilant -- It is so tempting to tackle the quick and
easy but 'tiny' multiplied by infinity is a mighty big number!
Without strong vision, strategy and discipline, the low hanging
fruit will keep you busy for a long, long time, leaving strategic
issues to languish. Accelerate progress toward your vision by pursuing
the strategic over the easy.
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