I have been involved in the project management software business for more than thirteen years. Over the years one consistent pattern has been the glaring difference between the decision making efficiency of our American customers versus that of virtually any of our customers in other countries.

After studying this for years, I can comfortably say that an American prospect is highly likely to make a purchasing decision (go/no go) 3 to 4 times faster than a UK, Canadian or Australian prospect. And, an American customer is much more likely to quickly move forward with a project even if there are some unknowns and timeline risks, based on a mutual trust and commitment to the project’s success. Whereas a Canadian prospect, for example, may procrastinate, over-analyze and hesitate to the point that any momentum or enthusiasm for the project is long gone.

This pattern is more evident in times of trouble. American companies seem to invest even more aggressively in tough economic times. In the last 4 quarters, while the rest of the world has started to tighten their belts and reduce software spending, our American customers have actually increased and accelerated such investments so that they can outmatch their competitors.

This type of decision making process and speed makes American companies far more competitive and capable in comparison to their peers in other countries. There are a lot of challenges for the United States of America, healthcare, debt, deficit, war against terrorism/extremism, … but from my observations, on the innovation front, the United States is by far, the absolute global leader.

In the next blog I will talk about my observations regarding enterprise software implementation projects at US companies versus similar projects executed for companies in other countries.