I recently had the chance to watch a situation where a person was presented with a strategic decision. I was presented the same situation. My decision was made in seconds, deciding what needs to be achieved, how priorities need to be shifted, the overall effects are thought of in minutes. There are unknowns, resolve them, ignore others, but keep moving.

The other person spent the first 24 hours wanting more information; the follow on 24 hours evaluating the various alternatives. Then finally after 72 hours, deciding on action, and within 12 hours changed their mind again. As much time as the person spent, collecting more information, analyzing the situation, they still could not make a decision. And, anything they did now was a waste. They missed the opportunity.

I was in a conf call last night (sunday) where a group of us were discussing modeling, and it reminded me of how the group of us saw the opportunity and knew we needed to move fast. In my above example, we made decisions and started moving. The other way which we didn’t have present in the meeting is “I need more information before I can make a decision. Let’s reduce the risk.”

I haven’t blogged much over the last week as I have been dealing the with crisis situation I mention in the first paragraph, but I’ll get back to blogging as soon I resolve the situation.