The Dead Horse Theory & Technology

The core idea is simple: if you realize you are riding a dead horse, the most sensible thing to do is dismount and move on. However, in practice, the opposite often happens. Instead of abandoning the dead horse, people take actions such as:

• Buying a new saddle for the horse.

• Improving the horse’s diet, despite it being dead.

• Changing the rider instead of addressing the real problem.

• Firing the horse caretaker and hiring someone new, hoping for a different outcome.

• Holding meetings to discuss ways to increase the dead horse’s speed.

• Creating committees or task forces to analyze the dead horse problem from every angle. These groups work for months, compile reports, and ultimately conclude the obvious: the horse is dead.

• Justifying efforts by comparing the horse to other similarly dead horses, concluding that the issue was a lack of training.

• Proposing training programs for the horse, which means increasing the budget.

• Redefining the concept of “dead” to convince themselves the horse still has potential.

The Lesson: This theory highlights how many people and organizations prefer to deny reality, wasting time, resources, and effort on ineffective solutions instead of acknowledging the problem from the start and making smarter, more effective decisions.

In today’s business reality, the speed of technology integration into our business models is shining a new spotlight on the Dead Horse theory, as company “horses” are dying at an ever-increasing speed, and should be replaced with new “horses” accordingly. Consequently, the daily, weekly, monthly, and annual evaluation of existing company processes and procedures must become part of the company culture.

For example, at one point in time restaurants using a mobile app was a new and exciting way to engage with customers…today having a mobile app is a condition of being relevant in the restaurant space. More specifically, the features of the mobile App should evolve as new technologies enter the market. The most recent is the AI driven Avatar or Chat Bot. It is no longer relevant to enter your order via manual key punching on your device. Today, you must chat with an avatar to “discuss” your order in the same way we used to use the telephone when placing an order, human to human. Does your mobile app have an AI avatar to engage with your customers or is your organization riding a “dead horse” mobile app?

Please visit Tom Harper Franchise Consulting @ https://tomharperconsulting.com to discuss the many ways we can make your brand exciting and relevant in today's market place.