When the Horse is Dead - Dismount - Emerging Nurse Leader

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN

I recently read Bob Buford’s book Drucker and Me. It is a wonderful account of his 23 year friendship with Peter Drucker, widely considered to be the father of modern management. During their time together, Drucker shared a great deal of wisdom. Drucker was a firm believer in the old American Indian Tribal saying that When the Horse is Dead, Dismount and gave Buford some excellent career advice in this area. He often said that leaders were very good at starting things but less effective in knowing when to stop doing things when they are not working. It can be hard to give up a project or relationship that you may feel you are heavily invested in but know at your core that it is not going anywhere.

I had this experience several years ago when I received a large grant to implement a new role in nursing. It seemed like the perfect solution to some of the disconnects happening in healthcare. Yet, the truth is that we created a product for which there was no customer in our market. I spent a considerable amount of my time trying to convince others of the need. Finally, I had to be honest with myself and admit that I was fighting a losing battle. There were more important ways that I could spend my time and add more value. I am not alone in this experience. I often talk with other leaders that are engaged in projects with no clear outcomes. Others are in jobs where they fight a battle every day to try to make a difference but know it is not working. Yet dismounting the horse is not easy.

Why Dismounting the Horse is so Difficult

I believe there are two important reasons why many of us have trouble dismounting a dead horse. The first is a concept derived from the field of economics called sunk costs. These are costs (time, money, political capital) that have already been incurred and thus cannot be recovered if you walk away from a project, job or even a relationship. Most of us factor these sunk costs into our decision making (sometimes in an irrational way) and keep throwing good money after bad hoping things will improve. A good analogy is when you buy a new carpet for your home and then as it is being installed – you just hate it. The dilemma is whether you leave it in and learn to live with it or whether you rip it out, pay the cost of a new one and get what you want.

A second reason why dismounting the horse can be so difficult is a feeling of failure. Many of us have been brought up believing that quitting is a sign of failure. Failure is often demonized and represented as a temporary setback. If we stick it out just a little longer, better things will happen. This may be true in some situations but not all and you need to know when to dismount. If you never fail, you probably are not taking risks that will lead to your personal growth or innovation in your organization. John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach, said it best “Failure is not fatal but failure to change might be.”

Drucker’s theory of “purposeful abandonment” is extremely useful for all leaders to consider. He believed that there is a need to quickly sever projects, policies and processes that had outlived their usefulness. Leaders need to establish a systematic way to to get rid of the outgrown, the obsolete, the unproductive or in other word to have the wisdom to know that when the horse is dead- dismount.

Read to Lead

Buford, B. (2014). Drucker & Me: What a Texas Entrepreneur learned from the Father of Modern Management. Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishers.