The current travails of General Electric -- dealing with a stock price that's been sliding since 2000 -- raises a question familiar to most of us.
When does patience-- with people projects or investments -- devolve into procrastination?
The answer is certainly more art than science. While there may be a tipping point that can be measured, waiting until it can may be a losing proposition. Once the issues are obvious to everyone, the decision maker has much less flexibility and fewer options than before. Worse yet, ego and a damn-the-torpedoes attitude may trump good judgement.
There are, however, some road marks that indicate the end of patience should lie just over the next rise:
-- Communication begins to deteriorate, and adverse developments are either reported slowly or not at all, falling into the surprise category.
-- Unrelated activities begin to go awry as the project in question sucks in more time and resources.
-- Risks being taken are not justified by the project's ultimate payoff.
-- Intelligence gathered in the early stages indicates that the likelihood of success was overestimated or the obstacles were underestimated. Or both.
-- There is a risk that the product or service will miss the market unless the project is greatly accelerated.
-- Major issues with the project continue to be unresolved, long after they were identified and put at the top of the priority list.
The poet Robert Frost got it about right: "Take care to sell your horse before he dies. The art of life is passing losses on."