Wingding: The Crisis of Knowing When to Stop Using 'Winging It' in Business
Wingding: The Crisis of Knowing When to Stop Using ‘Winging It’ in Business
In the grand tradition of British pragmatism, I’ve recently witnessed the great “wing‑ding” – a phenomenon that has turned our cosy little SMEs into flying circus tents of chaos. Forget Brexit, the football fiasco of 1999, or the last British elephant that decided to climb Mount Everest: the real crisis is deciding when not to wing it.
The Symptom
Picture this: the head of marketing – let’s call her Isabella – has decided that the quarterly social‑media strategy should be “executed in the moment.” The result? A brand‑identity presentation that looks like a family photograph taken yesterday and a splash of burgundy that is, frankly, unrecognisable as any shade of wine. “It’s just a splash of ink,” she insists, winking at her team as if she had invented Quark.
Meanwhile, in the finance department, Bobby is somehow managing the accounts by flipping through the user manual, taking notes, and then making three phone calls. He reports a “geographically accurate” profit margin because he read about a pre-Google “pro forma calculation” as a joke on a corporate slack channel. The auditors have left the office with sheepish grins and a new appreciation for campfire survival skills.
The Culture
In Britain, we’re good at turning adversity into opportunity – after all, there’s that old saying: “If you can’t make it happen, just wing it.” Unfortunately, the saying has come to mean “flog a dead horse until you for some reason ego trumps engineering.” What should be disciplined strategic planning has become church‑go-round corporate Lego, and the corporate boardrooms have turned into arenas of ‘improvTik Tok’.
And let’s bring in the “wing man” folks – you know, the occasional employee who always marries more deadlines than a lover. They’ve taken their role literally: “If we simply wing it, the next budget will be inevitable… literally!”
The Solution – Back to the Drawing Board
It turns out that, much like the famous “curry‑wing” you might find in some driftshops, the magic happens when you stop winging it too early, and also not too late.*
A quick refresher emergence has emerged: the Wingit Service Academy. The academy’s pamphlet tells you to:
- Identify when your plan does not have to be “warmed up” – that is, never wing it on legal or compliance matters.
- Develop contingency “wings” – a robust sideways plan.
- Recruit a Wing‑Czar to monitor for the inevitable moment the wing‑mist method starts to falter.
- Use a chart – because, frankly, you’re not a “flightless bird” if you can read a spreadsheet.
- Finally, if you still feel the urge after Step 4 – remember the biblical admonition of “All you need is bread, a cup of tea and a decent spreadsheet.”
Conclusion
So, what’s the moral of this little contemporary parable? Let us champion some basic decision trees around the word “wing.” We’re in a world where the survival of an enterprise depends on whether the director can spot the moment the ‘ad‑hoc’ turns into ‘ad‑shock’. And if you can’t figure that out, just ask a satnav.
Remember: The UK is still the leading expert on flair. But we do it with a plan, a plan that has the woe of a plan. If you’re gazing at your work sheet and wondering, “Should I wing it?” – ask your Wing‑Czar before you let the tendency to wing that tail‑coasted into the corporate market.
And if you’re still paddling around, just send a telegram to a random telegraph line that says, “Stop winging it, start planning.” That's the age‑old British way to do business with a safety net that is as resilient as a good ol’ Jolly Joker.
