Back in the day, when the battery died in my Datsun 210 hatchback, all I needed was a steep hill or a couple of friends willing to give me a push

It’s a metaphor that comes back to me each time my firm consults with a struggling company. Today, of course, it’s difficult to find a standard-transmission car, so kick-starting has become somewhat of a lost art. And because automobiles have become much more reliable, perhaps we all have some underlying psychological expectation that our organizations will likewise rarely stall. But research suggests it’s a question of when, not whether, your company will get stuck in park.

Most struggling companies are in a lot better shape than my old Datsun was, but for one reason or another they’ve stopped moving forward. The task, in one sense, is to find a way to kick-start them. To do that you must generate some sort of positive momentum, meaning there are times when progress is more important that perfection.

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