Doing things so Wrong They Seem Right

Have you ever started something knowing it was wrong but seems right?

Did you keep it going to the point that you felt that you were doing it right? Essentially doing things so wrong they seem right. It’s interesting how we can be our own worst enemies. There is no doubt we are complex beings and sometimes we can be so self-destructive in our pursuits to be right we end up getting it all wrong.

Doing things so wrong they seem right, why?

In this article, I want to share some of the key areas I have found in a time of crisis where business owners get it wrong. What drives the bias of doing things so wrong they seem right? That may be making the wrong decision, taking the wrong action, sticking with the wrong strategies for too long, a knee-jerk response or just plain pig-headedness.

One thing I’m clear about when there is time spent doing the wrong things in the pursuit of trying to be right is the cost to the business. So many businesses pay unnecessary ‘dumb tax’ as a result of doing things so wrong they seem right, making the wrong decisions being. Maybe you’ve experienced paying dumb taxes.

Have you ever invested in something expecting to get a return and nothing happen? Only then to keep going in a vain attempt to have that return. If like me you’ve done that then you’ve paid dumb tax. The reality is many businesses will pay lots of dumb tax, and lots of it.

doing things so wrong they seem right

Here are some of the signs and symptoms of doing things so wrong they seem right:

KNEE-JERK REACTIONS. Interestingly there have been many examples of businesses making knee-jerk decisions in a crisis. In any time of crisis when anxiety, worry and fear are present we often rely on our instincts or gut feeling to make a decision. The challenge here is we are utilising our primitive chimp brain. Our fear, flight or fight response can be misinterpreted in the decision-making process as being decisive. It just means that these decisions are made with limited cognitive ability and certainly without understanding the full situation the business finds itself in. In business, context is often best to take a moment to make an assessment and situational analysis.

BEING THE SUPERHERO. In times of crisis, it never comes as a surprise to see the business owner trying to oversee and control everything in the business. Making every decision, having to be involved in everything. From customer enquiry to answering a team member’s question to sending the invoice. The superhero facilitates everything. The fact of the matter with superheroes is they are not. It’s often not long before something goes terribly wrong. they burn out, End up spinning too many plates and ultimately something breaks.

SHORT-TERM THINKING. Heading into a crisis, much like COVID-19, requires a plan of action to be made. Another way of looking at short-term thinking is in the context of putting out small fires in a crisis. The business owner tackles one fire, then another, then another and so one never is really dealing with the root cause or understanding the full context of the situation.

HEAD IN THE SAND. Here the business owner subconsciously or consciously chooses to ignore the situation. This may be a pending crisis or during a crisis and can be extremely damaging if not fatal to a business. Ignoring a developing crisis is foolhardy. This is where the business owner needs to take full ownership of what’s happening in their business and become fully praised of the situation pending or in play.

I KNOW. ‘I Know’ are probably the most expensive word in business. In a time of crisis, they can be fatal. I know the essential signals that there is nothing more I need to know because I know it all already, so I’m not interested! Not being open to ideas, a fresh perspective or merely listening to a different point of view is limiting and in a crisis, the one thing you don’t want to be is limited by options. You need to be able to react to situations with agility, to have planned options on potential scenarios to be open to various outcomes. You need to be a sponge, not a rock. For  more of an explanation on this read Sir Clive Woodward’s keynote presentation

How can we change things into being so right?

Stop doing things so wrong they seem right…

As suggested these signs and symptoms don’t nearly turn up in isolation. You’ll often find in a business owner the different signs and symptoms in a time of crisis. The point here is when you experience the signs and symptoms you can recognise them and deal with them before they become damaging to the business. In a crisis, a business owner needs to demonstrate the highest levels of leadership, follow this link for more about leadership. To demonstrate this watch this short TED Talk from Simon Sinek on how good leaders can make you feel safe

Would you like to explore this topic? Maybe you’ve direct experience of doing things so wrong they seem right. Why not get in touch:

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