Pharma Strategy Blog

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Recently, I've been re-reading Tim Ferriss's excellent book, The 4-Hour Workweek.  It's such a good book packed with tips and useful information that every time I read it, I learn something new and start implementing the ideas in practice.  They actually make a difference, too!

Sometimes, just getting things done in Pharma is half the battle, considering the seemingly ingrained inertia, procrastination and bureaucracy.

I was pondering a client's problem regarding various bottlenecks and wondered how they had the patience to keep chipping away at the coal face. Here's one snippet I came across yesterday in Ferriss's book that has made me think a lot about Pharma inertia:

"What you do is infinitely more important than how you do it." 

Paralysis by analysis is endemic in this industry and leads to torpor in decision making as well as the dreaded management by consensus because of an ingrained fear of failure. What happens is akin to herding cats, in other words very little effective action occurs.

There is though, an enormous difference between running a franchise or brand or business and busy-ness.

Sometimes Nike is right: Just Do It.