The decision everyone already knows you are postponing

I have spent the last few weeks more at owners' tables than here.

Almost every conversation starts with money. Tight cash, the bank pressing, a partner who wants out, a son or daughter who wants in.

Almost none of them ends with money.

They end with a decision that has been stalled for months. Everyone in the company knows which one it is. The owner knows too. What is missing is not information. It is someone from outside, with no seat to lose, saying how much each month of delay costs.

That is the work. Sitting with the owner, putting a number on the delay and handing back the decision agenda with names and dates.

The rhythm here comes back. What changes is the subject: cash, partners and succession, in the companies of those who sign.

A question for the weekend:

What is the decision everyone in your company already knows you are postponing?