THE STATUS QUO IS ALSO A DECISION
When organisations consider a new initiative, scrutiny follows quickly. What will it cost? What is the return? How long is the payback period? What are the risks?
These are sensible questions. But there is another decision being made at exactly the same time — often without the same economic scrutiny. The decision to continue as today.
Doing nothing can feel economically neutral because no new investment is approved. But maintaining the current state may have its own economics. Opportunities remain unrealised. Manual work continues. Decisions continue to be made with existing information. Customer potential remains where it is. Resources remain allocated according to today’s priorities.
None of this necessarily means change is required. It does mean that no change is not the same as no cost.
THE COMPARISON MAY BE INCOMPLETE
Traditional business cases typically compare the cost of an initiative with its expected benefit.
The more revealing comparison may sometimes be broader: What happens economically if we invest? And what happens economically if we do not?
Only then are both alternatives being evaluated as actual business decisions.
THE NUMBER THAT RARELY REACHES THE BOARDROOM
The cost of transformation is usually visible. The cost of delay is much harder to see.
And the longer an unidentified opportunity remains unidentified, the less likely anyone is to describe it as a loss. Perhaps that is exactly why it deserves attention.
What is the economics of doing nothing in your business?