From the course: Management Tips

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The danger of short-term thinking

The danger of short-term thinking

From the course: Management Tips

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The danger of short-term thinking

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Logically we all know that when you're making decisions we have to strive to balance the needs of the short-term and the long-term. However, in practice we don't always do what we know how to do. Thanks to packed schedules, tough deadlines, and high performance expectations we often fail to act in the organization's best long-term interests. Every senior leader can relate to this. You're at a meeting called for the express reason of discussing how we'll make sure we hit our year end numbers. You watch the team decide to cancel some program because it won't produce immediate profits. Or maybe you consider some questionable financial practice about what to write off, or when it's appropriate to book sales. Believe it or not, research actually suggests that a majority of Chief Financial Officers are willing to destroy shareholder value when needed in order to meet quarterly stock expectations. Short-term pressures can clearly be dysfunctional. In fact, there are three main ways this type…

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