Every new initiative is a bit like a hand of poker. Sometimes you need to weather a few bad cards before the odds turn in your favor. Other times, the smartest move is to fold early and save your chips for a better opportunity. The challenge — in poker and in management — is knowing the difference.
Warm-and-Fuzzy Wins
Years ago, my clinic started texting clients a photo of their pet after surgery. Why? Because when most people dropped their pet off for surgery, they weren’t thinking that their pet was going to have the best day ever. They weren’t thinking about the heated kennels, sherpa bedding, snuggle blankets, and stuffed animals that we gave every patient.
Instead, they were worried sick. They had seen the Sarah McLachlan commercials with the sad-eyed dogs shivering in the shelter.
When they picked their pet up, we struggled to convey all the extra safety and comfort measures we provided for anesthesia and surgery. We went to great lengths, but the client did not always understand or appreciate it.
What they did understand was the big invoice they had to pay after a fearful day. I decided sending a postop photo to the owner would help resolve this issue.
In order to pull this off, several steps had to be taken. First, we had to wait for the patient to be awake enough so they didn’t look like they had just spent a weekend at Bernie’s. And we would never dare to send a photo with eye lube smeared all over the pet’s face, which makes it look like they have been ugly crying all day. This meant that the eyes had to be cleaned, fur dried and hair brushed, snuggle blanket cozied around them, and a stuffed animal perfectly placed to bring the whole photo together.
I thought this was adorable! The surgical and recovery team did not.
It added another task to an already busy day. Someone had to remember to take the picture, stage the scene, and send the text. It was one more thing piled onto an already full workload. Had I measured success based solely on team enthusiasm during the first few weeks, I would have chalked it up to a massive failure and thrown in the towel.
The clients, however, loved it.
The photos reduced anxiety and generated thank you notes and shares on social media. When the invoice was presented, we encountered less “Wow, that is a lot of money” and more “Thank you for taking such good care of my baby.” What it did was create a stronger relationship using a photo to show all the effort to keep their pet safe and comfortable. Over time, the process became routine, the resistance faded, and the protocol was accepted. What initially looked like a mediocre idea turned out to be one of the best ways to convey the value of our services.
High Tech Isn’t Always the Answer
Not every idea deserves that kind of patience. During the pandemic, everyone became convinced that telemedicine was going to transform veterinary medicine. The logic seemed airtight: Clients wanted convenience and veterinarians needed to see more patients. Technology was finally making virtual visits possible. It seemed like a win-win.
The problem was that telemedicine never gained the traction expected. Scheduling video calls created friction. The doctor had to stop what they were doing to go off the floor to a video call. It didn’t make sense when there was a parking lot full of clients waiting, sometimes for hours, to be seen. The workflows were clunky. The idea stalled out in midair.
We had solved the wrong problem. We thought pet owners wanted a virtual veterinary exam from the privacy of their own home. Come to find out, they were as bad as us at using video tools, resolving internet connections, and being able to find their cat at the time of the appointment. The reality was they wanted easier access to their veterinarian on their own time. We didn’t need a telemedicine service. We needed to figure out how to handle texting better.
One initiative succeeded. The other didn’t. And neither outcome was obvious in the beginning.
Looking back, the challenge wasn’t determining whether the ideas were good or bad. The challenge was figuring out whether I was looking at temporary resistance from my team or evidence that the idea simply wasn’t working.
When I’m evaluating a new initiative today, I ask myself three questions.
1. Is the problem actually getting solved?
Before launching any new service, product, or process, you need to know what problem you’re trying to solve. Otherwise, you’re like a sailing ship with no destination. Are you making progress? Who would know? You never defined where you were headed in the first place.
- If you’ve implemented a digital scribe, are doctors getting home earlier?
- If you’ve added an AI chatbot, are clients getting the answers faster?
- If you’ve introduced a new workflow, is it improving efficiency or patient care?
Whenever possible, use data instead of gut feeling. Data helps clear out the mud so you can see where you’re going.
2. Have you given it enough time?
This is where many good ideas die. The first few weeks of almost any change are messy. People need time, sometimes a lot, to learn a new process. Old habits are like old cats; they tend to hang around forever. Mistakes make people feel like a newbie when they used to be the experienced pro. Resistance is common. That doesn’t necessarily mean the idea is failing.
I’ve found that people rarely resist change because they’re difficult. They usually have a reason. Sometimes the cumbersome workflow needs to be ironed out. Sometimes the training wasn’t good enough, and a refresh is needed. Sometimes they’re simply uncomfortable doing something new. But the bottom line is if they see progress, they will do their best to get on board.
3. Are the benefits worth the cost?
Not every initiative has an obvious financial return. Some create value through client loyalty, employee satisfaction, or improved client engagement. Still, most ideas have some form of measurable return. The cost isn’t just money. It’s also training time, frustration, management attention, and operational complexity.
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When to Call It Quits
Some ideas work, but not well enough to justify the resources required to maintain them. One of my ideas went down the drain this way. One year I decided to add a new employee benefit and offer a gym membership to all full-time staff. It seemed like such a nice way to promote staff well-being. The result was a slew of unforeseen headaches.
Some people wanted to stay at their gym. Some people wanted a substitute well-being benefit — like a monthly Starbucks stipend. A lot of employees signed up and then never went. After a year of this, I had to walk back the benefit. The return on the investment wasn’t there.
Perhaps the hardest part of failing isn’t the failure itself. It’s having to tell everyone about it. For a leader, entrepreneur, or innovator, failed ideas come with the territory. For every successful idea, I’ve had tons of others that never got off the ground.
When it becomes apparent things aren’t working and you have to euthanize your initiative, I’ve found the best approach is simple honesty. Tell your team exactly why you’re changing course. Share what you learned. Explain what worked, what didn’t, and what comes next.
“We tried it. We measured it. We learned from it. Now we’re making an adjustment.”
Real failure isn’t changing direction. Real failure is continuing to invest time, money, and emotional energy into something that isn’t working simply because you’re too proud to admit it.
Looking back, the photo texts taught me not to quit a good idea too early. Telemedicine taught me not to stay too long. The gym membership taught me that even well-intentioned ideas can create problems you never saw coming.
Good leaders aren’t successful because every hand they play is a winner. They’re successful because they know when to stay in the game and when to fold.