Tag Archives: Business

No Regret Decisions: The First Steps of Leading through Hyper-Change

GUEST POST from Phil Buckley

Workplace change has never been at a higher rate or faster pace than now. Everything from consumer preferences to product sourcing models is in flux. ‘Reinvention,’ ‘transformation,’ and ‘disruption’ are popular terms to describe how private and public organizations are evolving to accommodate changing operating environments, stakeholder expectations and regulatory requirements. Leaders and their teams must enable multiple, complex changes when most organizational practices are obsolete and the future is at best uncertain.

In today’s dynamic environment, many leaders default to strategies that have worked under very different conditions. Relying on past practices to solve present challenges is often naive and highly risky. Other leaders instinctively select courses of action that feel right or appear credible based on limited or easily available data. In these cases, the speed of response and hope for simple solutions trump rigorous assessment and disciplined evaluation.

Addressing Uncertainty with No Regret Decisions

A pragmatic way to move forward through unknown conditions is to identify ‘no regret’ decisions. A no regret decision provides a net benefit under any future scenario. For example, building awareness of sanitation and hygiene good practices at the beginning of the pandemic was a no regret decision because it benefited people even if the virus didn’t spread through surface contact.

The Benefits of No Regret Decisions

There are four benefits of making no regret decisions. The first is they align stakeholders to a course of action. There is strength in agreement that leads to positive team dynamics and a foundation of success to build upon.

The second is that no regret decisions move a team from a static state to one of motion. Success in change is not about being perfect; it’s about responding to circumstances based on available information, identifying options, and selecting the best way forward. Delaying action is rarely a good strategy during change because issues amplify with time—speed of execution matters; inactivity is harmful. Taking action transitions people from being observers to participants, preparing them to address future time-bound situations and make bigger decisions. Momentum is a source of strength that ignites future efforts.

Creating a fact-base is essential to understanding the interplay of environmental factors that lead to analysis, hypotheses, and action. The third benefit is it provides opportunities to test and learn, to challenge assumptions and modify strategies to deliver the highest value.

The fourth benefit is the building of confidence of individuals and teams. They foster a belief in capabilities, decision-making process, and a high probability of success. Also, taking concrete actions minimizes the “fight, flight, or freeze” effect triggered by uncertainty. It renews people’s belief in their abilities and avoids the emotional responses of self-doubt and fear that come with unknown or vague circumstances.

No Regret Decision Examples

What decisions provide net benefits regardless of future outcomes? Capability development is an enabler of performance. The current focus on resiliency training is an example of equipping people with mindsets, tools, and behaviors, irrespective of the emerging scenarios. Critical thinking, ideation and creativity are other skills that add value when addressing all forms of hyper-change.

Simplifying and standardizing processes is another no regret decision. The decision-making process is a good example of how a consistent framework leads to shared understanding, assessment, and alignment on actions. When people use the same process, they follow the same rules and speak the same language. The symmetry of the approach leads to clarity and agreement.

Soliciting customer feedback to inform strategy development and execution offers benefits regardless of the operating environment. It is easy to skip this step of intelligence gathering when faced with multiple, complex changes requiring quick responses. The risk of doing so is that solutions don’t address client needs, risking relationships and sales.

Leaders and their teams are navigating business environments never seen before. Internal and external realities require them to rethink their operating models and pivot their strategies, initiatives, and resources to achieve their performance goals. Making no regret decisions enables them to align stakeholders on actions that lead to positive outcomes. They also provide the opportunity to test assumptions and hypotheses and refine the understanding of marketplace dynamics. The forward motion and small gains generated by no regret decisions build the confidence of individuals and teams to face challenges head-on to mitigate risks and seize opportunities.

The only regret from this type of decision is not making them. What no regret decisions can you make to help you lead through hyper-change?

Image credit: Pexels

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The Wonderful World of Downsizing

Stikkee Situations - Downsizing Cartoon

In Stikkee Situations we’ll try to take a humorous look at a lot of different serious business topics.

In this episode we poke fun at the wonderful world of downsizing.

Employees hate workforce reductions (aka downsizing), but some CEOs (even in profitable companies) seem to love these traumatic events as a tool to save their job and to drive short-term movements in the price of a company’s stock price, often coming on the heels of a company missing their earnings estimates.

But the positive short term stock price effects of an across the board workforce reduction come with heavy consequences, several of which greatly affect the innovation capacity of the organization, including:

  1. Destruction of trust within the organization
  2. Reduction in collaboration in the organization
  3. Loss of forward momentum on project work
  4. Loss of some of your best talent as they proactively find themselves jobs elsewhere
  5. Reduction in passion, creativity, and engagement among those who remain
  6. Elimination or reduction in the organization’s commitment to innovation

Now of course sometimes workforce reductions are necessary to avoid bankruptcy or for strategic realignment (removing human resources from business areas you are exiting), and they can be potentially healthy for the organization.

But, when downsizing is done purely to please wall street and in an untargeted way, in the long run I would assert that the organization suffers more than it benefits because any reduction in forward innovation momentum is an invitation to competitors and startups to speed past you.

So, keep innovating!

Please note the following licensing terms for Stikkee Situations cartoons:

1. BLOGS – Link back to https://bradenkelley.com/category/stikkees/ and you can embed them for free
2. PRESENTATIONS, please send $25 to me on PayPal by clicking the button 3. NEWSLETTERS & WEB SITES, please send me $50 on PayPal by clicking the button
License for presentations - $25
License for newsletters and web sites - $50

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Do you support #StrikeFastFood or not?

Stikkee Situations FightFor15

Today is the big day for the #StrikeFastFood movement (aka #FightFor15), during which fast food workers will walk off the job in search of a living wage – in this case they are hoping for $15 an hour.

What do you think of this movement?

Do you support it, or do you think the market should decide?

And do you think they’re foolish for changing the hashtag for their movement in the last 48hrs from #FightFor15 to #StrikeFastFood?

(You might notice the title for the cartoon is #FightFor15 because I created it yesterday)

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Announcing Stikkee Situations

Stikkee Situations Number 1

I am proud to announce the launch of my business cartoon series called Stikkee Situations. I will try and do at least one business cartoon a week on the themes of innovation, marketing, management, leadership, strategy, culture, human resources, entrepreneurship, and the occasional political cartoon just for fun.

You may notice changes over time as I take a rapid prototype, Lean Startup type approach to the creation and evolution of this strip.

Please send me your topic ideas if there is a particular cartoon you’d like to see (or leave a comment) and give me your feedback and be part of its hopeful growth and improvement over time!

Please note the following licensing terms for Stikkee Situations cartoons:

1. BLOGS – Link back to https://bradenkelley.com/category/stikkees/ and you can embed them for free
2. PRESENTATIONS, please send $25 to me on PayPal by clicking the button 3. NEWSLETTERS & WEB SITES, please send me $50 on PayPal by clicking the button
License for presentations - $25
License for newsletters and web sites - $50

I hope you enjoy the ‘toons!

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For Sale – Innovative Business Idea

For Sale - Innovative Business IdeaA few years ago I looked around the corporate and consulting landscapes and I noticed that there was a talent gap in both places. There are many occasions when consulting firms look to their bench and don’t have the talent they need there to fulfill a client need right away and so sometimes they lose business to their competition. And on the corporate side, there are many occasions when a manager or director has more work than they can possibly do themselves and what they really need is not a consultant but a smart, flexible resource that can parachute in and get up to speed helping them very fast. Having been called in to fill both of these kinds of gaps from time to time alerted me to the existence of these two market needs, and so I started to create extendedbench.com.

There is definitely a need for an ‘extended bench’ or a ‘talent stable’. Unfortunately I don’t have time to build out this business and in an effort to simplify my life, I thought I would put the web site and the associated domains and collateral, pitch decks, etc. that I’ve started up for sale to someone who has a passion for realizing the idea – probably someone from a staffing or recruiting background.

The following domains are included in the sale:

  • extendedbench.com
  • talentstable.com

Have a look at the web site, decide what these assets are worth to you to accelerate your entrepreneurial pursuit, and make an offer (no offer too low).

And if you think the idea is terrible, sound off in the comments about why.

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Free Innovation Keynote May 1st in Tacoma

Come Join Me May 1st in TacomaOn May 1st I will be the keynote innovation speaker for the Invista Performance Solutions launch event in Tacoma, WA. Invista is a partnership of Northwest Colleges dedicated to providing high quality workforce training to meet and exceed client expectations. Formed in July 2011, Invista has a strategic mission: To help companies gain a competitive advantage in the global economy by increasing the skills of their workforce.

I will be speaking about the attributes of highly innovative companies amongst many other innovation topics. Praveen Gupta will also be speaking, so two great speakers for the price of one, and that price is one that you can’t refuse – FREE.

If you live in the Seattle/Tacoma area, come join me on May 1st.

Register Now

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Innovation Quotes of the Day – April 19, 2012


“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

– Thomas Edison


“Growth and innovation are driven by customer insights discovered through customer observation and conversation.”

– Braden Kelley


“The hardest part of ending, is beginning again.”

– Linkin Park


What are some of your favorite innovation quotes?

Add one or more to the comments, listing the quote and who said it, and I’ll share the best of the submissions as future innovation quotes of the day!

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