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Walk out the door? Maybe not quite as easy as you may think.
The challenge for anyone in a long term relationship, business or pleasure, and particularly one experiencing difficulty is: do I invest in trying to fix it or cut my losses?
Look at the massive challenge surrounding the Brexit campaign.
Lots of the positioning discussions surrounding the campaigns both for and against seem to be recognising the potential difficulties and negotiations that would be inevitably the outcome of a leave vote on June 23rd.
All in all, and we scratch the surface here. Leaving would not be as easy as turning around and just going.
The arguments from both sides seem to me relatively reasonable and who really knows what the actual outcome of us leaving or indeed staying would be?
Would the economy fail, or with the shackles removed bloom? Would security be improved by closing our borders or destroyed by us being alone in the Global threat around terrorism? Would Britannia rule the waves or end up like a bag lady sitting alone with 9 cats and smelling of wee?
To add further complexity any eventual decision to leave may take up to 9 years to unravel.
Honestly you’ve got to be thinking what on earth have we got ourselves into? Makes me feel like going back to bed and covering my head in the duvet.
But it is the challenge many of us face when dealing with the big strategic partnerships we have with our suppliers or buyers. One of the big costs we face is one of dealing with and managing risk. Do I stay with the devil I know? Depends on how bad things are and what the costs of failure or walking away are.
We have to be prepared to do the work to figure that out, and a relationship without at least the possibility of walking away can become abusive.
On balance we should not be waiting for disaster to strike before working out were the value for both sides can be improved.
Don’t just walk out the door, you may not be welcome anymore.
Alan Smith
