Bird in the Bush

Warren Buffett used an investing analogy many years ago in one of his Shareholder Letter's that is relevant to people making business decisions.  Aesop's question of whether a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.  Or if this is too theoritical for you, ask if a brunett in a convertible is worth five names in a phonebook. [Editor: How would you know?]

To answer Aesop's question, one has to decide how much more valuable the birds in the bush are relative to the one in your hand?  How difficult will the be to get them out?  Are there other benefits to gaining the bush?  How long will it take to get those benefits?

How often do business question come back to this?  If I invest in this project, will it improve my business?  How will I know?  How will the people working on the team know?

If you can articulate those answers with everyone on your team, aren't you much closer to aligning your team towards achieving those goals?

With all the tools available to us, how often are these basic questions ever asked or answered?

Now, where is that phonebook? 

Photo Credit: Olive Eyel