A sabotaging behavior in organizations is the inability to focus. You’ve experienced it; we all have. An idea/direction/agenda is pursued – oftentimes with great fanfare, but the executive team quickly loses focus and starts pursuing another great idea/direction/agenda and the process continues. It has a name: fad of the month. It has a reaction: cynicism. What is doesn’t have is the ability to generate sustained ongoing success for the organization.
An unfortunate example of this was recently revealed by a review panel looking into Rhode Island’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC). The EDC is charged with generating economic growth in the state. Rhode Island has a 10.5% unemployment rate, which is the 6th highest unemployment rate in the country. It is reported that no business sector in Rhode Island is growing and businesses are failing at an alarming rate. The review panel chairman likened the EDC to a “basket of frogs bursting with directionless energy.” In other words – no focus. The study panel recommended removal of the entire board, conducting a national search for a new Executive Director, creation of a public-private partnership to guide business recruitment, dissolution of the Economic Policy Council.
When an organization charged with spurring economic development in a state lacks focus, the results are catastrophic for its citizens. When a company lacks focus, jumps from idea to idea, the results are just as catastrophic for its employees, customers and stakeholders. It’s virtually impossible to make meaningful forward progress. Attention Deficit Disorder is never good for a company and it can be devastating for a state.
Take some time to look at your organization. How many initiatives do you have underway? How many initiatives did you start and stop over the past three years? Depending on your answer, you may have found an opportunity to capture a competitive advantage – focus.
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