Don't water dead plants

Don't water dead plants. 

This idea might seem obvious in your house, but for some reason, many people continue doing it in their businesses. 

Of course, you realize that I’m not literally talking about plants, but rather elements of your company that it’s time to say goodbye to. 

Most of us are aware of the fallacy of sunk cost, a cognitive bias that occurs when people make decisions based on the amount of time, money, or resources they have already invested in a particular endeavor, rather than considering the current circumstances and future prospects. 

The fallacy is that we believe that because we have already invested significant resources in something, we should continue doing it to justify or recoup our initial investment, even if it no longer makes rational sense to do so. 

But to do so is to look at the past rather than the future. 

In my work with CEOs, I’ve seen two types of dead plants that continue to get watered. 

First, there are people. I’ve always believed you should hire slowly and fire quickly. 

Harsh? Not really. If you’ve done all you can to help improve a poor performer, it’s time to let them go - for your sake and theirs. 

If you allow incompetence to exist in your company, it quickly becomes noticed - and others think it’s acceptable. Nip it in the bud. 

The second dead plant I’ve seen are ideas. We have a (natural!) tendency to fall in love with our own ideas and hold onto them with a death grip. 

But prying yourself loose from ideas whose time has passed is incredibly liberating and will open your mind to new possibilities. 

Sometimes, you just need some new plants.

‍