Edition 470 – Compromises
I’ve bought a new car. It was ordered in late February, and should arrive in late May. I stipulated that I wanted a 2025 build and 2025 compliance, hence the delay.
Except, that’s not been the only delay. 12 months ago, I went through the process and simply couldn’t arrive at a decision. I came very close, however, at that time, the choice I was looking at was very expensive and, whilst it was a very nice vehicle, I couldn’t bring myself to spending that much on a new car.
This time around, the decision has not been driven by desire, but by necessity. Mighty Whitey, my 2014 Ford Territory, had a few little hiccups last year, which meant he was off the road for some extended periods of time. These days, it can take a long time to get your car booked in and seen to, if a mechanical breakdown arises. That was one reason.
The second reason was something I wrote about last year in Edition 451 – The Fragility of Life – Dean Robinson Driving past a horrendous accident on the M5, very late at night, when I saw a ute wedged up against a truck, and facing the wrong direction, made me decide that, from a safety perspective alone, some upgrades were necessary.
I started out with an idea as to what particular car I thought would fit the bill which, in the end, it didn’t. It was a long process of reading reviews, visiting showrooms, seeking wise counsel from trusted sources, and observing what was on the road elsewhere, before getting to the point of locking in a test drive.
Driving Australian made Fords for almost all my life, means the driving experience of any new car was always going to be different. From the seating position, to the layout of the dash, to the way the car feels when you drive it. It might be an SUV, but the Australian designed, engineered and manufactured Territory was built on the platform of the Ford Falcon, so it drove like a car should drive – and not like a truck.
What I really wanted, was a 2025 Ford Territory. I’ve loved every edition of the Territory that we’ve owned, and a modern day take on it would have made the decision a hell of a lot easier. However, that’s a pipe dream, so I had to be prepared to compromise. SUV or Four Wheel Drive. CVT or standard automatic transmission. Sunroof or no sunroof. Ground clearance for ease of entry and egress. Screen layout. Comfort features. The analysis was endless. And, I had to accept that some features I wasn’t going to get, and others, I was going to have to “endure”.
What are the compromises we haven’t yet accepted in business, and how has that stalled our journey?
What are the compromises that we have accepted in business, and how has that helped get us to where we are at, today?
What are the traits of someone that joins our business that we’re prepared to accept, and which are deal breakers?
What are the features that we would like to bring to our new product or service release, just to give it that extra pep, but would be best holding back until we’ve actually found out whether we’re trying to perfect the imperfectible, that provides no benefit to the customer at all?
Over the years, I’ve observed that business owners who not only accept compromises, but work with them, often have much more successful businesses than the stubborn, stick-in-the-mud types whose intransigence can often lead to an oversized sense of self belief.
This Week’s Tip
“In business, as in life, it’s the compromises that we make,
that often reframe, or reinforce, our position.”