Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where what is best for you and your budget is the opposite for what is good for the business or the business unit. Signing a 10 year lease for a new business unit with uncertain revenue or growth would be a good example. The longer term lease looks cost effective from a market perspective but that doesn’t bring the risk of having that space unused by the business if the worst happens. Sometimes people make the 10 year decision even in this scenario.
A lot of times this will happen when there isn’t a good working relationship between the parties. The full breadth of information is not shared and each group begins behaving based on whatever works best for them right now given limited input. For the next 12 months it may look like a good decision on paper, but the cracks will soon begin to appear. It can be a vicious feedback cycle when it starts going bad with lots of finger pointing. Even the best intentioned people can find themselves in this position.
The key to not putting yourself in this position is over-communication and removing short-term negative reinforcing metrics. Focus on the best scenario for all parties (including short term, flexibility, risk mitigation and upside planning). Put yourself in the seat of each stakeholder and always remember that there is more at stake than just what is there on the surface for you.