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Three questions to help you decide when and how to correct the course.
July 30, 2024
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Most projects and strategies at some point require a course correction. But choosing to pivot when it’s not necessary can be costly: A leader could send their team in an unproductive direction, wasting time, resources, and engagement; they could delay the achievement of the team’s goals; and they could squander the confidence of their stakeholders. The author has identified three questions that leaders can ask themselves in advance of a change in direction to make sure they aren’t pivoting for the wrong reasons: poor execution, external pressure, or the lure of a shiny new opportunity.
One of the only certainties of management is that all projects and strategies will, at some point, require a pivot or course correction. New technologies emerge, competitors do the unexpected, and plans are never perfect. That’s why agility and rapid adaptation are such critical leadership skills (as long as they are exercised, as I’ve written previously, with a focus on changing the means to achieve the goals, but not the goals themselves).
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