We want leaders to take decisions fast. But also to stay alert to trends and changes (Hyperawareness), and to visit and revisit data and information (Informed Decisions-Making).
There is tension there and it is not always easy to find the balance. Many get stuck in analysis - paralysis. Others take hasty decisions and consequently, wrong turns with irreversible damage.
Three critical behavior for digital business agility
In the HAVE model of agile leadership*, we define three critical behaviors for digital business agility and agile leadership:
1. Hyperawareness
2. Informed-Decision Making
3. Fast execution
Finding the right balance
Often, leaders ask for advice in finding the right balance between speed and slow, careful decision-making that involves data collection, analysis and consultation.
IMD Professor Howard Yu writes in a recent article* about how Jeff Bezos of Amazon classifies decision. This classification is a helpful guide for deciding between speed and thoroughness in decision-making.
Type 1 and 2 decisions (Jeff Bazos)
Jeff Bazos of Amazon wrote* that he likes to categorize decisions in two categories:
Type 1 decisions: The choices are irreversible. Consequences of the decisions will change things for good. After the decision is taken, there is no way back to how it was before.
-> Bezos says these decisions require a careful, methodical approach that takes time. Staying alert and watching trends and developments (Hyperawareness), collecting and analyzing data as well as consulting others (Informed Decision-Making).
Type 2 decisions: Type 2 choices are reversible. You can back out or undo them. Consequences wouldn't change anything drastically or only temporarily.
-> These decisions call for speed (Fast Execution). Try, fail fast and learn fast.
The skill is to differentiate between the two.
Sources:
*IMD & metaberatung, 2017;
book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56050890-agile-leadership---leadership-competencies-for-the-agile-transformation
*https://www.howardyu.org/how-leaders-should-make-critical-decisions/
*Bezos, J. (2020). Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, With an Introduction by Walter Isaacson. Harvard Business Review Press.
