Short-term or long-term: What's best for navigating uncertainty?

But whilst everything feels as though it is pointing towards placing total focus on the short-term demands, during an uncertain and volatile economic climate, it’s more important than ever to keep the long-term in mind.

We caught up with Daniel Button (Dan), Chief of Staff at EZRA, to find out why.

Imbalance brings risk

“I think the risk to innovation when you are overly focused on the short term is significant,” he says.

The research agrees. And you don’t have to look far to find examples of when that’s been enough to bring organizations to their knees.

Blockbuster for example. Their prioritization of short-term late fees over long-term innovation is a classic cautionary tale of short-termism gone wrong.

That’s not to say dogmatic long-termism is any better, though. When that happens, “You get so focused on the direction you're going you can't actually see the steps right in front of you,” Dan warns.

And there’s a lot of tripping hazards around in the current climate.

Striking the right balance

So, while short-term vs long-term is often portrayed as a battle to be won, the reality is that it’s more like a balance to be found.

“I think it's resilience, it's adaptability, and it's pragmatism,” Dan says. “Those are the three things really that can help…consider when to be short term, when to be long term.”

Define purpose to build resilience

Dan suggests being clear on questions like “What are your goals and reasons for being an organization?” That ensures “You know, why you exist as an organization.”

From this comes a sense of purpose that acts as a north star. A point of consistency to navigate chaos and remain steadfast through the storm.

And with a massive 82% of employees seeing purpose as important too, it’ll make sure everyone pulls in the same direction along the way.

Be agile to adapt

Mike Tyson once famously quipped, “Everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the face.” And the world is throwing haymakers left, right, and center right now.

So, like Dan says “…you have to be able to adapt.”

That requires agility.

Purpose certainly helps. Decisions are quicker with the clarity it provides.

So does trust. It’s a core part of the psychological safety required to collaborate effectively.

But Dan thinks organizations adapt best with a culture of continuous learning, taking an approach that says, “Ok, this is what we've learned from this pilot,” onboarding it and repeating the process ad infinitum.

Stay practical

Just adapting isn’t enough, though.

“I've always thought that you need a level of pragmatism in leadership and a level of pragmatism in business…,” says Dan.

And that’s never truer than in the BANI (brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible) climate we find ourselves in.

It’s the guiding hand of pragmatism that not only understands the specific adaptation the environmental conditions require but provides a true appreciation of the resources on hand to execute it.

Finding a way

With a strong sense of who you are and where you’re going as an organization, and a culture of adaptation to navigate the ever-shifting path there, whether decisions are short-term or long-term becomes incidental. They’re simply about taking the best course of action. And when you do that, good things are more likely to follow. No matter how certain the uncertainty in the world.