For example, when a company is underperforming, many boards take a seemingly sensible action: cut the CEO’s pay. Such a move, the thinking goes, will encourage the CEO to improve the company’s performance in order to restore his or her full pay.

But pay cuts can backfire. Studies have found CEOs whose pay was docked at least 25 percent were likely to use a combination of both accounting techniques and opportunistic economic decisions that produce overly positive financial reports to accelerate the company’s reported performance in the short term.

These techniques, known as “earnings management”, can provide the appearance of a financial turnaround. But earnings management can actually damage the company’s long-term profits.

The motivation is understandable. “Boards also want to be seen as being responsive,” Sridharan says. “The market, in its myopia, wants everything to be corrected today. But the larger the ship, the longer it takes to steer it back on course.”

Hire for the long-term good. Sometimes, the right long-term decision can look like a bad short-term decision.

When companies are filling management positions, it’s tempting to hire the person with the exact right experience. But that can be a mistake, according to research by Daniel Barron, an associate professor of strategy at the Kellogg School, and Michael Powell, an associate professor in the same department. Sometimes it might be in a firm’s interest to promote the (seemingly) “wrong” person or sign a contract with the “wrong” supplier.

Short-run thinking can often contribute to corner-cutting—or even outright delinquency.

“If you look at age and great achievement in the sciences in general, it doesn’t peak in the twenties. It’s more middle-aged.”

So, if you find yourself moving a little too fast, stop and think that years-down-the-line you. Your present and future self will thank you.

Remember, your best may be yet to come.

Jeff Seal

Managing Partner Telecom Review North America