Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences:

Determination can keep us going when things get difficult, but it can also make us hold on to a decision even when new information suggests we should rethink it. Flexibility is its own kind of strength because an adaptable will knows when to stick with the original plan and when it is time to change course.

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We admire and romanticize an iron will

An iron will represents the ultimate triumph of human agency over circumstance.

The person who decides, commits and refuses to be moved. The leader who stays the course. The entrepreneur who keeps going when everyone else would have stopped. Persistence has earned its place among the qualities we associate with strength because there are many things worth achieving that require us to continue well beyond the point of comfort.

This romanticized view often obscures a more
complex truth.

• Circumstances change.
• Information we did not have when we made the original decision becomes available.
• Assumptions prove incomplete.
• People respond differently than expected.

Something that made perfect sense six months ago may make considerably less sense today, yet we can find ourselves defending the original decision simply because we made it.

An iron will can eventually cost you

Once persistence becomes part of how we see ourselves, changing direction can feel like weakness. We may tell ourselves that we are being disciplined, consistent or committed when what we are actually doing is refusing to reconsider a decision even after new information gives us reason to.

An adaptable will allows us to hold firmly to the purpose without becoming unnecessarily attached to the route.

You can remain committed to building the business and change the strategy. You can remain committed to the client and reconsider the solution. You can remain committed to the goal and acknowledge that the plan designed to get you there is no longer the best one available.

That requires judgement because every obstacle should not send us scrambling in a new direction either. Sometimes the right response really is to stay the course. The challenge is knowing when to push through difficulty and when new information is telling us that something needs to change.

There is Strength in Being Flexible

When you’re able to say: I made the best decision I could with what I knew then. I know something different now, and that information deserves to be considered.

Changing your mind under those circumstances does not mean the earlier decision was a bad one. It means you are willing to change course when that decision is no longer helping you achieve what you set out to achieve.

Strategic Reflection Prompt

Think about something you are currently determined to see through. Are you protecting the purpose, or have you become equally committed to the particular way you first decided to pursue it?

About Giselle

Most costly decisions begin with a wrong read of the situation.

I’m Giselle Hudson — The Pre-Fixer. I help leaders see the real problem before they act, in my writing and in my work. I don’t fix; I pre-fix. Most advisers jump to solutions before they’ve found the real problem. I find it first — the part that isn’t fully visible yet. Once we see that clearly, everything else falls into place, and confident, right action can follow.

Through my daily Strategic Alignment Journal, I explore leadership, decision-making, and the patterns that shape organizations — helping leaders make sense of complexity before they commit significant time and money to the wrong thing.

What’s the one thing about your business that frustrates you most — the thing that, despite your best efforts, you can’t seem to resolve?