The Cost of Indecision
Ever struggled to get your organization to consider a change or have your organization evaluate a change and then stall on taking next steps? Identifying the cost of indecision can reduce the organizational inertia that prevents you from moving forward.
When evaluating change, most organizations focus on future benefits: increased revenue, reduced costs, improved customer satisfaction, or achieving organizational sustainability goals (increased local and sustainable food purchasing). Attention quickly focuses on the relative certainty (or uncertainty) of these benefits. And because every change involves some level of uncertainty, the risk of taking action and not achieving the proposed benefits quickly dominates the conversation. This is typically when the process slows down and indecision takes hold. In contrast, the potential outcomes related to not taking action tend to be more certain. This increased certainty can be used to reduce indecision.
The cost of indecision, or the opportunity cost of taking no action, is a combination of the size and probability of not changing and the conservative estimate of the future benefit.
An example:
A corporate dining director has experienced food cost increases of $50,000 over the last year with no changes in menu composition or meal volume. If no change occurs, it’s certain that they…
