[The CEO's Right Hand] (3) The CEO's right hand does not execute. The 'power to stop' determines everything: The quality of decision-making is determined by 'what you don't do'
Companies are destroyed not by failure, but by 'doing too much'
One day, after the meeting ended, I stayed behind alone and
opened the spreadsheet one more time.
The progress of the new business was not bad.
Hiring was proceeding according to plan.
The investment decisions should not have been wrong either.
Even so,
for some reason, only the cash was decreasing.
I reviewed the numbers once more.
I hadn't made any strange decisions.
Rather,
I had done everything I 'should have done'.
But, at that moment, I understood.
If things continued like this, it would stop somewhere
At the same time, a sense of discomfort began to emerge within me as well.
Hesitation appeared in my judgment.
Priorities wavered.
The number of things I couldn't decide on increased.
It wasn't just the company
I was starting to break down too
I looked back.
None of the decisions were wrong.
Each one was correct.
Even so,
the company was starting to break down
It was then that I realized for the first time.
The problem was not 'failure'.
I had been doing too much
Companies are not destroyed by failing.
They are destroyed by doing too much
--
Why do we do too much?
Management is always trying to move forward.
We want to grow,
we want to expand,
we want to be evaluated.
This pressure
distorts decision-making.
As a result, what happens?
We end up doing things that don't need to be done.
・Taking risks that don't need to be taken
・Making investments that don't need to be made
・Taking on fixed costs that don't need to be held
And by the time you realize it,
you are in a structure you cannot turn back from.
Why can't we stop?
The reason is simple.
There is no incentive to stop.
Doing things is rewarded,
taking on challenges is seen as righteous,
and no one wants to take responsibility.
Therefore,
no one stops it.
--
The CEO's right hand
The right hand is not an executor.
Nor are they a coordinator.
They are the entity that corrects the 'distortion' of decision-making.
The right hand has one job.
It is not to decide what to do.
--
Deciding 'what not to do'
We will not make this investment
We will not pursue this business
We will not make this hire
Whether or not you can say this.
You don't need 'courage' to stop things.
What you need is a standard.
If you stop things based on intuition, you are just a brake.
If you stop things based on structure, it becomes decision-making.
Judgment criteria are consolidated into three points
1. Is it reproducible?
Success just once is meaningless.
Can you win repeatedly using the same structure?
2. Does the capital efficiency match?
Is the investment appropriate for the return?
Are you damaging your cash flow?
3. Can you win structurally?
Is there a competitive advantage?
Or will it become a war of attrition?
Investments that miss these three points
should basically all be stopped
What is important is,
not 'whether you can do it'
but 'whether you should do it'
Furthermore,
Are you being swayed by short-term results?
Are you justifying it with a story?
Are the premises misaligned?
Question everything up to this point.
The right hand judges based on structure, not optimism
--
Essence
The CEO is the one who presses the accelerator.
Finding opportunities
Taking risks
Moving forward
This is correct.
However,
an organization with only an accelerator will inevitably break.
That is why a right hand is necessary.
The right hand is the brake.
What is important here is that
stopping = weak
is not the case.
In fact, it is the opposite.
An organization that cannot stop is weak.
Doing everything
Trying to get everything
Ending up with everything being half-baked
This is the most dangerous state.
Strong companies are different.
They do fewer things
What they do not do is clear
Resources are concentrated
In other words, the brake is functioning.
The job of the right hand is
not to slow down speed,
but to protect the direction.
Stopping misguided investments
Stopping misaligned decision-making
Stopping things before they break
Whether or not you can do this
determines the lifespan of the company
The right hand is not an entity that kills speed.
It is a mechanism to ensure the company is not destroyed.
--
Conclusion
The value of the right hand
is not determined by what they did
but by what they stopped.
Growth is not addition.
It is determined by subtraction.
Next time
The CEO's right hand: "Don't speak in numbers"
The idea that saying the right thing will make it pass is an illusion.
It's correct but won't pass.
It's rational but gets rejected.
Even if you present numbers, it won't move.
Why?
Because decision-making is determined not by "correctness" but by "how you get it through."
Past [CEO's Right Hand Series]
CEO's Right Hand (1)
What is the role of a CEO's right hand?
CEO's Right Hand (2)
Why do startup No. 2s break down?
I would be happy if you read this as well!