Let me tell you about a company that spent 18 months 'pivoting' and ended up exactly where they started, only with less money and more burnt-out employees.
Month 1: The CEO announces the company is pivoting to focus on enterprise customers instead of consumers. Big town hall. Inspiring speech. Everyone's excited.
Month 3: Teams are reorganized. Titles change. New org chart. People who were great at consumer marketing are now expected to suddenly understand enterprise sales.
Month 4.5: During a strategy Slack meeting, Crooks has one of his legendary spontaneous epiphanies: 'You know what, Branden? I've been thinking... Let me tell you something else—maybe we should do BOTH consumer and enterprise!' Three hours of debate follows. Decision: more meetings needed.
Month 6: First enterprise deals are harder than expected. CEO says we need to 'refine our approach.' More Slack meetings. New consultants hired. Headsets permanently on.
Month 9: Consultants deliver a 200-page strategy document. Nobody reads it. Teams are exhausted from constant reorganization.
Month 12: Quarterly results are bad. CEO announces we're 'returning to our roots' in consumer market, but with 'enterprise learnings.' This is presented as strategic, not a retreat.
Month 18: We're back to the original strategy. Except now we're 18 months behind, several good employees have quit, and everyone's cynical about leadership.
The lesson? Pivots aren't inherently bad. But if you're going to pivot, commit. Have a real plan. And maybe test the idea before reorganizing the entire company.