#70🚀 Winston Churchill

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👋 Hello, friends! Dr. Molina here 👨‍🔧

Welcome to Dr.Molina Newsletter, where I break down Magnetic design for you every week, in 4 minutes the time needed.

Today I bring you an article from my new colleague and CFO at Frenetic, Ivan Taboga. Enjoy his article!!

Is consistency positive?

During the 1940s, Winston Churchill strongly opposed Indian independency and the nomination of Jawaharlal Nehru as Indian prime minister. Later, in 1955, Churchill started supporting Nehru. When asked about this contradiction, Churchill declared with his unrivaled sarcasm, “in the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet”.  During his long political carrier, he had been right often, but when he had been wrong, he admitted, changed not only his mind but also the course of his actions. And moved on. (I strongly suggest Churchill's monumental biography written by Andrew Roberts). But what is the value of consistency, then?

I feel my consideration of consistency has changed over time, both in my personal life and business. For instance, In the past, I used to get annoyed (or even angry) when I saw a politician changing his opinion on a bill or a project. Looking at companies’ behavior, I felt that consistency was going to pay off over time to build a brand or to make a commercial strategy successful. Not so sure anymore.

The depth and speed of changes have increased dramatically in the business environment over the last decade (pandemic and post-pandemic have been perfect examples). Sticking to a strategy to preserve theoretical consistency can be very dangerous. Ability to adapt, try, and error, learn from mistakes, update the plan, and move on. This seems to be a better recipe, at least in the short term.

Sometimes I joke with Chema at Frenetic about him being a perfect example of consistency in the long term (company vision, milestones in product development) and inconsistency in the short term (commercial actions, communication campaigns, next feature priorities). He can change direction quickly and commit totally to something new in a matter of hours, which makes it exciting but demanding to work with him. But I realized is the way to go.

Also because every decision, especially in a start-up, is taken not having all the desired information available. So, when additional data emerge, the original decision often needs a correction.

I strongly believe that when the north star is bright and clear, deviations in the path to get there are not only inevitable but almost beneficial. At least for two reasons: it keeps the company agile and increases the likelihood of serendipity.

One aspect of company life (and probably not only company..) where consistency still pays off in both long&short time horizons is the values. Because building them, internalizing them, and making them relevant for daily work takes time, and deviations can be painful, creating confusion and disaffection.

Looking from a different angle, being inconsistent and changing ideas implies admitting our own errors: that´s not always an easy exercise. Sometimes we feel it shows weakness, but that´s nothing unnatural to recognize a mistake. As the author of Gulliver´s travels, Jonathan Swift, wrote: “You should never be ashamed to admit you have been wrong. It only proves you are wiser today than yesterday”.