A Simple Business Lesson From The Mueller Situation: Don’t Take Too Long

Did you see Robert Mueller on TV? It was hard to watch him struggle to regain control of something that had been his work for two years, but which had taken on a life of its own and got away from him.

Some people have been clamoring to hear him speak. They seemed to wish and hope some words from “the man himself” would straighten out some of the confusion. Maybe he thought so too. But they were wrong.

Mr. Mueller tried to convince viewers that “the report speaks for itself” but everyone knew it didn’t. And he couldn’t speak for it. Because it’s just too late. No matter what he said.

Two years of silence were sufficient to invite people of all stripes to fantasize and invent their own belief systems about him and what he was doing and how it would affect the country.

Predictably, his written report when it was finally delivered didn’t really resolve or settle anything either, but merely served as a catalyst or tool for the various believers to double down and fortify the particular — and conflicting — narratives they had built, promoted and defended over the many months of waiting. Nothing he can do or say can change that.

The investigation just plainly and simply took too long. And the effects of the passage of time — with all that silence —had its own consequences apart from any matters of substance in the investigation itself. What a valuable lesson in the importance of timeliness!

USE IT NOW: Is someone waiting for you to deliver a report, a project or even just an answer to an inquiry? Don’t make them wait so long they allow their imaginations to fill the void you’re creating by a delay in communicating. Let them know what’s going on before it’s too late.