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Made three decisions last week in less than 10 minutes each.
Results: One I am currently trying to fix, one caused us to lose a client, and one we will simply have to live with now since there is no way to go back. But at the time, each felt like a decisive move, like I was getting things done. In reality, I was just making costly errors faster.
No one wants to admit this, but sometimes the reason we refer to “being decisive” as being “quick to act” is really just our impatience with having better PR. We’ve bought into a lot of the myths from the startup world. Move fast, break things, and don't overthink; be biased towards action. It sounds great on a poster. It’s much less great when you’re trying to explain to your team why the strategy has changed again.
I observed two different founders handling the same issue in two completely different ways last month.
The first one pitched a new project management tool. The tool demo was smooth, the salesperson knew his product well. “This’ll fix all of your workflow problems.” He signed the contract that afternoon. He’s the picture of a decisive leader. Making moves. Three months later? The software does not integrate with their current systems. Their team hates the tool. They are stuck in an annual contract that they can’t get out of.
The second founder pitched the same tool and he was impressed as well. “Nice. Let me think about this, and I’ll get back to you Friday.” He shows it to the team that will be using the tool every day. He checks to make sure that it integrates with the systems that they currently have in place. He calls two companies that currently use the tool. He discovers that implementing the tool takes two months, not the “instant” that he saw in the demo.
One of them appeared to be the act of a leader. The other was actually leading. Two very different things. Speed works when the building is on fire, like when the client is yelling, "The server is crashing," and a "fix it now" situation arises where analysis comes later. Speed works when you can quickly reverse the decision.
Try something. See what happens. Change your plan if needed.
Speed works when you have been in this position before and you know exactly how to react. Most of the time none of these apply. But we often act like they do because “I need to think about this” sounds weak and "Let's do it” sounds strong.
My friend has a rule. Nothing over £10k ever gets decided the same day. Ever. “But what about opportunities that won’t wait?” His answer. “If it can’t wait 24 hours, then it’s not an opportunity, it's a sales tactic.” He has used this rule for four years and, believe me, has never missed a true opportunity but has probably saved himself thirty terrible decisions.
What slowing down gives you: You notice things.
You find the perfect candidate for supervision! After the second interview, you find out that they have never actually supervised anyone; instead, they coordinated a team once, and that is a completely different thing.
Collaborative decisions may take longer to make, but when they are implemented, they occur faster because everyone involved has a common understanding of what they are doing. Errors are cheaper. Waiting a week is expensive. But rushing through a strategic decision is expensive for months of cleanup.
Here is the problem.
Slowing down appears to be weak. Looks like indecision. Creates doubt in the minds of others about whether you know what you are doing. This can be remedied by waiting six months to let your competitors deal with the aftermath of their bold, rapid decision.
Before deciding anything significant, I always attempt to ask myself the following question : What will happen if I wait for two days? Am I doing this now because it is truly urgent or because I just want to get rid of it from my mental to-do list? Who is impacted by this decision that I have not spoken to? More times than not the answers are nothing negative, I just want it done, and several individuals whose input would change my mind.
Recent Experience
Client asked us to add a feature to our software last month. Immediately. Would be willing to pay extra for the speed.
Old version of me: “Absolutely, we’ll have it ready to deploy in two weeks. Team scrambles. Quality suffers. The client receives something that technically works but isn’t quite what they had envisioned.
Current Version of me: “Let me look at the feasibility with the team for a timeline, and I’ll get back to you tomorrow." The team properly evaluates the feasibility of adding the feature. The realistic timeline is actually three weeks. The client receives something that actually meets their needs.
One of them looked faster, but the other worked better. Some of the best leaders I have met are not the quickest decision makers, they understand when to be quick and when to stay with the discomfort of uncertainty and when to trust their gut instinct and when to gather additional data. When “let me think about this” is avoidance and when it’s simply….smart.
That judgment? That is leadership.
Speed is just speed. Useful at times but misunderstood for what it actually is most of the time. So, next time you feel pressured to make a decision immediately …… Just don’t. Wait until tomorrow. If it still makes sense after that time…… Do it. If it doesn’t, you just avoided another “decisive” blunder.
Forward progress is important, but forward progress in the right direction is even more important. And sometimes you need to slow down enough to figure out which direction that actually is.