Don't Wait Until Tomorrow

What’s the greatest killer of companies? Corporate consultants Benjamin Gilad and Mark Chussil, who have worked with hundreds of giant brands, have an answer: It’s waiting to act on something that needs to be done right now.

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Practice saying sed non-hodie. It means “but not today” in Latin. (Pronunciation: sed known hoe-dee-ay.) Why say it in Latin? Because it sounds better. It sounds scientific. And if you’re saying it in Latin, nobody else can understand the terrible, horrible, dangerous sentiment you’re expressing.

Sed non hodie is what too many big companies say in response to a possible slowing or reversal of growth. Every entrepreneur should learn from their repetitive mistake. Consider where the impulse comes from: Every company wants to maintain or enhance its performance. That’s good—it’s how capitalism is supposed to work! But their managers often react not by changing for the future but rather by extending whatever the company already has. In the process, they have no idea how to evaluate the outcome. Are they building up their company? Propping it up? Or just plain puffing it up?

Some examples:

When did airlines’ cost-cutting go from sensible to requiring that passengers inhale before they can fit in their seats? They know someday a backlash will disrupt the model of sardines- in a-can. But…not today.

When did pharma’s infatuation with blockbuster drugs go from delightful jackpot to essential lifeline? Every pharma executive we’ve worked with— and in our consulting practice, we’ve worked with hundreds— laments the overreliance on a few blockbusters and the culture that pushes lesser drugs off the development track. They know it will have to change because pipelines of the Next Big Thing are running dry, but…not today.

The problem is not that feverish growth won’t last. The problem is not that stock prices rise and fall. The problem is that, judging by results, these companies have no idea what to do when growth stalls.