A dead horse, the boardroom and you

Don't you just love how some philosophies from the past feel even more true today than they ever have!

I recently came across a simply brilliant article on The Tribal Wisdom of the Dakota Indians from 10 years ago that was published in The Guardian.

It shares a different perspective on how modern business is finding many creative ways to "beat a dead horse," when in fact the best strategy should be to dismount.

If this is new to you, "beating a dead horse" is an idiom that means to continue doing something is a waste of time as the outcome is already decided.

Take a read, and I dare you not to chuckle knowing full well that this probably applies to your company, but could also apply to many other facets of your life…

The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from one generation to the next, says that when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. 

But in modern business, because heavy investment factors are taken into consideration, other strategies are often tried with dead horses, including the following:

1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Changing riders.
3. Threatening the horse with termination.
4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
5. Arranging to visit other sites or countries to see how they ride dead horses.
6. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.
7. Reclassifying the dead horse as "living-impaired."
8. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.
9. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.
10. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse's performance.
11. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance.
12. Declaring that the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead and therefore contributes more to the bottom line than some other horses.
13. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.
14. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.

Guilty as charged?

Yep.... thought so.

As a senior executive, your career success can be reliant on you calling out that said dead horse is, in fact, dead.

But more often than not, we struggle to really voice our thoughts or to influence those around the table in an effective way.

Why?

Because we aren't sure if we're really qualified to identify a dead horse. We've never done that before! We also don't want to go against Jake from Operations who seems so certain that #4 on this list is the right way to go.

I say it's time to scream 'DISMOUNT!' to everyone who will listen.

You have the experience. You have the respect. You have the place at the table.

But will you step up and have enough faith in yourself to declare what's really going on? To back yourself because you do have the results. You have earned the respect. And you've worked your ass off (pardon the pun ;) to earn that seat at the table.

Don't let it slip away.

Book a call with me today and let's talk about what you need to do to build your confidence so you can truly step into your true potential at work and climb as high as you desire. So you can not just work, but thrive in a career that gives you so much personal and professional fulfilment.

I know how important that is for people like you and I. And I know the impact on all aspects of your life when it's not there.

Let's leverage tribal wisdom and so much more to help you giddy-up!