While sunrise is my favorite time of the day, one of my favorite places to watch sunset was destroyed June 1, 2005.

The Oasis restaurant burned after a lightning strike. Popular for many decades with Austinites and Texas tourists, people ate Tex-Mex and nachos while they watch the sun go down from one of the restaurant’s many wood decks overlooking Lake Travis.

Austin is home to both scenic and strategic sunsets. The Oasis is located on the outskirts of town in a scenic location. As the state Capital, Austin is home of strategicsunset reviews of governmental agencies, laws and funded programs. According to the best-selling authors of The Price of Government, Texas has one of the nation’s best sunset law programs.

“A sunset law is the administrative equivalent of a scheduled hanging: It requires that a program be reauthorized periodically by elected officials to survive.” (1)

While executions occasionally take place, sunset reviews commonly result in improvements to programs and processes.

During the summer ’05, I’m performing a sunset review of Activity Based Management (ABM). ABM will soon be twenty-years old. That’s one-hundred forty in consulting years! The review is turning out to be an invigorating collaboration with some of my competitors and customers. We will determine whether to hang-up or hang-on-to ABM.

Do you need to perform a sunset review of one of your sacred cows this summer? Pick one of the sunset topics listed below or something of your own choosing. Insert your choice into this question:

“Is continuing _________________________ a wise thing to do?”

Assemble some of your peers, employees, competitors, consultants, family or friends to answer the question. Discuss and determine whether to hang-it-up or hang-on:

• Sunset your company mission statement. Maybe it’s too long, unclear or not memorable. Our simple mission is “Make new things familiar and familiar things new”.
• Sunset the traditional 13-year curriculum of public schools.Why not 10 or 15 years? Why not make the final year a series of life skills classes, i.e., How to manage money, How to stay out of debt, How to select the right partner for life?
• Sunset interest-only home loans.If and when housing values fall, 50% of Americans will be upside down on both their homes and their cars.
• Sunset college ethics classes.Why not hold one semester of business school at a seminary or theological center?
• Sunset the monthly accounting close process.Why not have accounting install more timely measures?
• Sunset some of your products or services. What 20% of your products represent 80% of your profit? Has your warehouse become a costly closet for unsaleable inventory?
• Sunset a grudge. The Apostle Paul said, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry”. Forgiving is not instinctive but intelligent.
• Sunset traditional staff meetings.Read Say It In Six by Ron Hoff to learn how to hold effective six-minute meetings, presentations and speeches.
• Sunset Sunday morning soccer games. What’s going to be more important for your kids in years to come, scoring a goal or learning about God?
• Sunset fast-paced living.According to an Expedia.com survey, Americans are expected to leave more than 421 million vacation days unused in 2005 … an average of 3 days per worker. Harvard freshman are given a letter entitled Slow Down (3), telling them how to get more out of the university — and life — by doing less. READ IT!
• Sunset corporate policy manuals. Former Southwest Airlines CEO Herb Kelleher threw away policy manuals every five years and challenged staff to replace them with simpler versions. Herb says, “When you’re in a business where the capital assets travel five hundred miles per hour, you have to be quick and responsive.” (4)

“Tradition is the living faith of those now dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of those still living.” (5) The right kind of traditions give us deep roots. Traditionalism, on the other hand, causes us to blindly or forcefully hold fast to outdated customs, behavior, policies, products or processes. Sunset reviews open the door and allow room for change and improvement while holding fast to the truth.

Whatever you select for sunset review, answer the question “Is it wise to continue?” Oasis owner Beau Theriot answered that question when he told reporters, “There is no question that we will rebuild the restaurant.” I and others will rebuild ABM this summer, if necessary. Both will be better.

One of the traditions of Oasis patrons is to cheer as the sun sets. What sunset will I hear you cheering about this summer?

Send your comments on this article to TomPryor@ICMS.net.

1) The Price of Government, David Osborne and Peter Hutchinson, Basic Books, 2004

2) Ephesians 4:26

3) www.college.harvard.edu/deans_office/dean_lewis/slow_down.html 

4) Nuts!, Kevin & Jackie Freiberg, Bard Press, 1996

5) Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, Charles R. Swindoll, Word Publishing, 1987