You might be 90% done with a project but the end result is not looking so hot. Stop, scrap it (but learn from your mistakes) and start over with the goal to improve the end result.
That’s what a turn-around artist does. They walk into a business look at what’s being done and then find more efficient and effective ways to improve the business processes. Starting over is often the way to save a doomed business or a doomed process. There is no shame in giving up if your motivation is to improve by starting over.
A quick story. I switched to an htc EVO Android phone in the last two weeks. I had it up and running within an hour and felt like I had it pretty much how I wanted it within a few days. While on vacation last week I realized that with the Blackberry dead and gone I could finally complete my move to Google Apps for all my business needs, email, calendar and document management. (I know there is risk in this, that’s another whole blog post).
I had to start over. There’s some “bug” in Android that only the first Google account you attach to the phone can sync it’s calendar. Perhaps this is only the case if your account is a premium Google apps account. Mine is so it applies. Well, when I set the phone up I used my personal gmail account. The phone was shiny and new and that means I was in a rush. Turns out it was a good thing.
Reset. I had to reset the phone to default. As in brand new out of the box. The difference is I have two weeks of Android under my belt now. I’m smarter and wiser and know what I can and can’t do with the device. More importantly I know what I want to do and what the device is capable of. By starting over I was able to dramatically improve not only my mobile device experience but also my business processes by eliminating several areas of duplication the Blackberry made necessary.
Low Cost. Most technology shifts are now very low in dollar cost while high in personal time costs. Not a bad trade off for most small businesses. Are you constantly looking at your business processes and scrapping some periodically? Scrapping them so you can redesign them as a smarter and wiser user of the system.
Take a look around and find something you can improve by starting over.