Are you riding a dead horse?

This is an old piece of wisdom, but still rings true...

"When you discover that you are riding a dead horse the best strategy is to dismount".

Oftentimes, a whole range of strategies are often employed, such as:

1. Buying a stronger whip.

2. Changing riders.

3. Threatening the horse with termination.

4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.

5. Visiting other sites to see how others ride dead horses.

6. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.

7. Re-classifying the dead horse as “living impaired”.

8. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.

9. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase the speed.

10. Attempting to mount multiple dead horses in hopes that one of them will spring to life.

11. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse’s performance.

12. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse’s performance.

13. Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overheads and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than other horses.

14. Re-writing the expected performance requirements for all horses.

15. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory/management/leadership position.

Recognising dead horses is not as common as we might think and dismounting from dead horses rarely happens without some kind of reflection, Continuous Improvement activity or simply a conscious effort to reduce the workload.

It usually only starts when we notice a lack of achievement and increased frustration. We might discover that despite trying harder or smarter - we remain at the same place. And we finally acknowledge that the same place is not where we want to be.

Whether the horse is a job, an ambition or an ideal - we often stay on, and try to ride it out (with blinkers fitted so as not to be distracted). Even when we know that success isn't even remotely possible - It can still be difficult to climb off that horse.

As we reflect on our own lives, we can probably remember a few dead horses - a job without prospects, an idea that people don't buy-into, or a "strategic vision" that fails to drive behaviours. Only by dismounting, and seeing the dead horse for what it is, can we begin a new journey.

Adrian.