Driving a Car While Trying to Change Tires

Too many times the approach in business is the check box mentality that it is better to get something out the door then to do it right.  Now, I understand an approach on paper might be well thought out and there is bound to be flaws during execution / implementation but those flaws are usually minor and easily corrected.

But what happens when you Try Changing Tires on a Car While it is Driving 60 MPH Down the Highway when executing a large scale implementation?  There are 5 key issues with this approach which include......

1) Rework - Thinking things through while on the go is always a recipe for disaster.  Not taking a well thought out end to end perspective will ensure you have other things to fix and clean up along the way.  I've always been a firm believer in getting it right the first time so you don't have to keep coming back to fix something. 

2) Confusion - When things are changing so rapidly with limited communication you have the makings of pure confusion.  When you have confusion you get frustration.  When you get frustration you generally lose the buy in and your product / service will soon die on the vine. 

3) Cost to Implement - Making decisions on the fly as well as fixing things along the way only add to your project expense line.  While it might take you a few more weeks or months, the benefits from a cost perspective will be minimized by not rushing to market

4) Branding / Customer Experience - Your company, product / service, team, etc. will have created a potential media firestorm which we have all seen what happens now with social media when things go wrong.  The negative spin is quickly put out on social media which then turns into a crisis management situation. 

5) Career Ramifications - Not to be overlooked is the career impacts of taking this approach.  You don't want to be the one known in the industry or within a company that implemented something that was a complete disaster.  Those types of things can haunt you for your entire career.

Now you can swing the other way and be too cautious on making sure every single "I" is dotted and "T" is crossed so there is a balancing act but I think you get the point that Driving a Car While Changing Tires is one Risk versus Reward component that is best left up to the stunt men/women in Hollywood.

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