No amount of hesitation removes the cons of a decision. At some point, you have to jump. Even without knowing all the details.

Speed is important, both in implementation and decision-making. But can you make decisions too fast?

Yes, there are situations where it pays off to think first before moving fast and breaking things.

However, the majority of decisions are taken too slowly, because people hesitate. People hesitate before deciding for two reasons: Either they are fundamentally unsure if it is a good idea to proceed with a proposed decision, or they fear they don’t yet know all the details behind a proposed decision.

Does this sound abstract? It isn’t, but a couple of real-life examples will help make the concepts more actionable.

Fear 1: You Are Fundamentally Unsure

Think of the last big decision in business or in private you had to take. How long did you contemplate before you made the decision?

A proposal for a new mandate. Shall I take it, or is this mandate too risky? A recurring problem with an employee. Shall I keep or fire him? Which customer red flags justify a termination of a contract?

It’s the same thing in private life. Shall I apply for this open leadership position in my organization, or are the requirements beyond my capabilities? Shall I undergo this preventive medical treatment? Is it time for a change of direction in my professional life?

All those questions don’t have a right or wrong answer. No amount of hesitation will relieve you from making a decision, even for grave decisions. At some point, you will have to jump, even if you’re unsure.

Fear 2: You Are Scared by the Lack of Details

Fast-forward. You have finally made that big decision, and you’re busy working out the details with your team. Here is a specific example.

As an active reserve officer in the Swiss Armed Forces, I command a battalion. Recently, I decided we needed to change how we deploy and rotate our tactical elements. We took multiple iterations with the team and our partners to work out the details. These iterations helped us eliminate weaknesses from our plan.

But interestingly enough, every time we came across an unresolved detail, people wanted to reverse the core decision to change how we deploy and rotate our tactical elements, or at least delay the change by one year. Feel the hesitation again? People don’t like unresolved details, but there is no way around making decisions with incomplete information. You can always come back to the open details later.

Conclusion

Of course, it is worth it to think through the consequences of a major decision before you make it. You have to weigh the pros and cons of each decision, and every decision comes with cons. No amount of contemplation, hesitation, or delay will dilute the cons.

After carefully weighing your options, just go for it and make a decision. Even if there are open details at the time of the decision. Because you will never know the full set of consequences of a major decision before you take it.