Awkward Reality #286

Consider rat tails and the danger of ignoring second-order effects.

In the early 1900’s the French colonial government tried to decrease the Hanoi rat population by rewarding bounties on each rat tail turned in. The second-order effects were 1) lots of tail-less rats roaming the streets, and 2) rat-breeding farms for tail harvesting. When your business leaders slash R&D spending, invoke travel bans, cut marketing staff, and delay hiring… what second-order effects will come as a result? Perhaps slower future growth? Rats.

More in article, Stop Stifling B2B Organic Growth with 2nd Order Effects