This brief post on the Speed Limit for Change caught my eye. Not for the concept, which I think is silly on an individual level but possibly sensible from an organizational behavior perspective as an empirical observation.

It reminded me of one of the best bits from Al Dunlap’s Mean Business (aff. link) (before he embarrassed himself at Sunbeam) was when he was reviewing a restructuring plan and pushed the team to make all the job cuts at once, “this quarter,” rather than dragging things out. His rationale was that it was better for the company, and even better for the workers as a whole, if the situation moved from old to new as soon as possible. The people left behind would know that they weren’t still at risk next month and could get back to work, and the people leaving wouldn’t be put through the emotional ringer for months before having to look for new jobs. (My recollection is bad on whether he planned t0, and actually did or didn’t, use some of the savings from a faster plan to juice the separation packages.)

I agree with Margaret: good change should start now. In the Army, that was the second part of being decisive: once your decision is made, you put it into action right away. No sense fooling around (or even worse, rethinking it!).