The world goes round and round - there is nothing new under the sun - we have all been here before. These are comments that you hear more and more often as the new millennium gets closer.

What are people trying to say?

What have rotating planets, old ideas and "deja vu" got to do with the ending of this millennium?

The Millennium Syndrome

The world goes round and round - there is nothing new under the sun - we have all been here before. These are comments that you hear more and more often as the new millennium gets closer. What are people trying to say? What have rotating planets, old ideas and "deja vu" got to do with the ending of this millennium?

The problems that confront the business world are not new ones. They have all been experienced in some way over the last 30 years. The difference is that the rate of change is increasing exponentially - the time to really think about it ever shorter. The consequence is that management want faster answers which they then rename strategic solutions.

Why do managers perpetually postpone the inevitable? Decimalisation was known about for years - but there was still a mad dash at the end. VAT was planned for years - but there was still a mad dash at the end. The EMU will happen but denial will cause a mad dash at the end. The millennium is a project milestone that will not move, it has been there, moving relentlessly towards us since the last one, but still management are not prepared to focus on the consequences of systems that will not work with dates that cross the 1999 barrier.

The problems are not all going to be easy to resolve, some will need applied innovation, some will need applied capital, and some will need applied sweat and tears. These problems can all be quantified. What is being ignored is that procrastination is the real problem and it will really hurt. It will hurt businesses because the resources will not be available, it will hurt businesses because replacement equipment will not be available, it will hurt businesses because time cannot be rescheduled. Now is the time to think strategically and reduce the profit targets and focus on getting the business millennium-proof - those companies that are will be the winners in year 2000.