Deciding at the right moment keeps the company on the road. It is also a struggle for almost every founder. There is a lot on your mind, and the big decisions get dragged along for months. They hold back progress and eat your energy.
Founders tell us they wrestled with a decision for months, sometimes years. Once it was made they felt relief. Looking back, all of them said they should have acted much earlier.
Ben Horowitz put it sharply. Every hard, correct decision makes you a bit more courageous. Every easy, wrong one makes you a bit more cowardly.
Check in with yourself
- Which decisions have you been carrying for more than two or three months?
- How much time do you spend thinking about them?
- What is holding you back from acting?
- How much head space would you free up by deciding?
- Will the decision get easier if you wait?
Making the decision
- Name the first step you can take with what you already know. Set a deadline so you have to move.
- Speak up. Talk it through with your co-founders, your team or someone you trust, to sort your thinking and clarify priorities.
- Work it through with a coach or mentor to break the pattern.
