Remember doing nothing is always an option

Daniele Catalanotto
Mar 24, 2022



A Service Design Principle for better decision making

When I present an offer for my consulting services, I often show the “Do nothing option”. In this option, I show the benefits of not working with me.

"You’ll save 8K and about 5 hours of preparation work by not doing that project”.

Sometimes stopping to do something is also a pretty strategic move. It can be smart to stop because we are certainly already overworked. Doing nothing will bring you back to a more normal life.

What if the next time you were evaluating options on how to continue with a project, you would say: let’s not do anything!

We often forget to do this because it’s so simple and obvious, but the impact is still pretty significant.

Little side notes

  • This is the second draft of this Service Design Principle.
  • I was able to reduce the lengths by 47.34% compared to the first version.
  • Once adapted, even more, this principle will be part of the book "Service Design Principles 201-300"
  • As always feel free to share comments, feedback or personal stories to improve this principle.
Like
Patrick Marcelissen
May 5, 2022
Clear to read the message of this principle.
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Patrick Marcelissen
May 9, 2022
Happy to help / Co-create. Soon I will add a principle when I am trough the existing ones.
Daniele Catalanotto
Oct 30, 2022

The third draft of this Service Design Principle

When I present an offer for my consulting work, I often show the “Do nothing option”. In this option, I show the benefits of not working with me.

You’ll save 8000 bucks and about 5 hours of preparation work by not doing that project. Sometimes not doing is a strategic move. It can be smart because we all already have enough on our plates.

Let me ask you.

What’s a project where the “do nothing” or “stop it” options would be smart?

Daniele’s notes

  • This is the third draft of this principle.
  • I’ve reduced the length of this principle by 31 % compared to the previous draft.
  • I’ve added a conclusion question to help the reader turn this principle into action.