Long-term thinking in a quarterly world

Almost every company says it thinks long-term. Far fewer behave that way when the next quarter looks difficult. Patience is easy to write on a website and hard to practise on a Tuesday afternoon.

We don’t claim to have solved this. But we’ve settled on three habits that help.

Ask “and then what?”

Many short-term decisions look good because we stop thinking one step too early. A price increase brings more revenue this year. And then what? A shortcut in the product saves a month. And then what? Asking the question twice is often enough to change the answer.

Separate the scoreboard from the game

Revenue, growth rates and customer numbers are useful. But they are the scoreboard, not the game. The game is building something customers trust. When the two point in different directions, we try to follow the game.

Revenue and growth rates are the scoreboard, not the game. The game is building something customers trust.

Remove the deadline that isn’t real

Many companies are impatient because someone outside needs them to be: an investor with a fund to close, a buyer waiting for the right numbers. We chose not to build brands for a sale. Without an artificial deadline, it becomes much easier to make the decision that’s right in five years instead of the one that looks right in five months.

The cost of patience

None of this is free. Patience means growing more slowly than we could. It means turning down opportunities that would look good in a presentation. Sometimes it means watching others move faster. We think the trade is worth it, but we’d be lying if we said it never stings.