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Recently, things have been really busy at work (as you can tell from the frequency of this newsletter).
When things get busy, I’m always reminded of the importance of delegating. Especially delegating decision-making.
But what decisions should you delegate?
What kind of decision are you facing?
Jeff Bezos has a great framework to help with this (bold mine).
Some decisions are consequential and irreversible or nearly irreversible – one-way doors – and these decisions must be made methodically, carefully, slowly, with great deliberation and consultation. If you walk through and don’t like what you see on the other side, you can’t get back to where you were before. We can call these Type 1 decisions.
But most decisions aren’t like that – they are changeable, reversible – they’re two-way doors. If you’ve made a suboptimal Type 2 decision, you don’t have to live with the consequences for that long. You can reopen the door and go back through.
Type 2 decisions can and should be made quickly by high judgment individuals or small groups.
So the next time someone:
invites you to a meeting as a decision-maker
ropes you into a document asking for your opinion or to approve the document
sends you a chat message asking you to make a call on something
ropes you into an email thread asking for a decision
etc.
Stop and ask yourself.
Is this decision reversible?
If the answer is yes, chances are you can delegate that decision.
Delegate reversible decisions as much as possible.
Delegating decisions is crucial to preserve your headspace. If you, the captain, make every decision, you are not empowering people in your captainship circle to take the driver’s seat. Decision making is a skill and people need to practice it to become better at it.
Have a great weekend!
-Ale
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