It is not uncommon to see owners reach at 99% and take forever to cross the remaining 1% to make important decisions. Wonder Why?

Sometimes the time distance between the owner’s position movement from 99% to 1% is forever stretched. 

Many asked us why we haven’t helped them cross the 1% faster than they were able to? 

Well, several of our clients whom we assign decision coaches during their massively disruptive and sensitive family constitution development stages have come across this situation, and below are some of their insights shared perhaps to aid you in some helpful way. 

With deep listening to hundreds of conversations between decision coaches and family owners, it has become evident that owners inherently care less about the long-term than whatever the decision is reaching 100% will demand from them. 

This truth has scared owners that what was driving them wasn’t something they thought ever existed but something unthinkable—lack of care or, more precisely, lack of enough care. 

Their revelation that they took forever to make a complete circle for the decision to be acted upon at several critical decisions in the context of the family constitution & otherwise as not enough care is a shock. 

Why does it happen? Why so? The answer lies in another question – What did they care more than enough? 

To be fair, if we compassionately recognise them first as humans only, most owners show typical human traits when it comes to uncomfortable decisions. 

Usually, family constitution and related decisions fall naturally on the scales tipping them towards not so comfortable decisions, especially if the pursuit is for making a constitution to live and not only to gather dust on the cover paper of the excellent constitution guide. 

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We wondered together with them about what they cared about more than enough. Also, we took a sample size separately in our internal decision audits and researched that to fully understand so that we can help a few of them if we come across better. 

We evaluated why, even when significant time loss and the decision quality & effectiveness loss, they see (or don’t admit to what they see) when they stalled for years at 99% but took that 1% closure when value loss was significant and time loss was irrecoverable. 

We learned that many had cared more than enough for combinations of saving money, saving present state comfort, saving them from fear of the unknown should constitutional way come in, saving them from some inner conflicts and similar. All this unconscious resistance to saving money and the status quo puts many at a significant loss or even grave risk in the long run! Habits and status quo be challenged, at least in their perceived reality. 

We have also seen that many family businesses think it’s okay to wait. If there is a palpating need, they have amassed wealth to splurge and save their family to united; harmony led businesses that grow boundless. Nothing can be further from the truth than this assumption. 

We have family businesses that did not accept the drive for creating a family constitution for almost half a decade because money was severely more important than anything they claimed with their tongues. Later, when they arrived, some part of them was not bruised but long gone. 

It took more than US$11 million to develop the constitution alone. Yet, the living readiness had lost shine that could have been possible when earlier it was less than a fifth or even tenth of the price above that later they agreed to buy at no bargain. The logic of enough pain until price doesn’t make sense is the owners’ grave mistake coming from traditional thinking zones. After half a decade, they aren’t ready to lose the purse string for something they believe in but won’t have the courage to let the investment occur. 

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There is another deeper sub routine we learned that might help a few of you: 

• They do this stalling not only because they save money. They stall because they don’t even have in their definition of what business is anything beyond making money! 
• When they get trapped for a long in this psychology, businesses, especially family businesses, see impressive ruins in the long run. Mind it – ruin doesn’t necessarily mean only loss of financial access to their treasury of theirs but a significant loss. 
• Some might agree, and some still won’t. The more significant loss for family businesses is when they lose identity, lose legacy, lose all they care for & love, lose family altogether yet still have money. This is a more significant loss. 

The key is will you be happy really with all the losses eventually. Arguably, even if there is no total loss of identity or legacy or businesses or family but what about the loss of charm of all this that could have been much more than one can even imagine how much that charm could fuel happiness, meaning confidence, amazement and a tremendous sense of self-worth that money can’t buy but your pursuit to grow this charm would most certainly the only way you would. 

Perhaps this adds a few drops of thoughts to your realm of contemplation. 

Let go of your resistance and embrace the thought of endless charm to put in life and loved one by not being money oriented but life satisfaction intensity of love to the level of breathless intensity and similar emotions drive the idea of making decisions faster, which will only improve your return on life far superior to your return on investment ever can.