Seven Decisions

Vanilla. Someone decided. Good. No further questions. We can make progress now.

Educated. You ask why they decided, and they can clearly explain their reasoning. Not everyone might appreciate the decision, but they will be given the opportunity to understand.1

Calculated. Not only can they explain the decision, but they have math! Wow, I’m super convinced now.

Instinct. They attempt to explain their reasoning, but they say “feel” a lot. A lot. Thing is, it feels right, so you don’t press.

Inspired. Now you press, and they can tell you want a clear rationale and justification, but none obviously exists. This decision is not meant to be understood; it’s meant to be appreciated for its poetry. It is 100% expected that inspired decisions are going to frustrate those seeking clarity; they are going to point at the lack of a clear explanation. “He doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing. It’s a guess.” It might be a guess, but it also might be art in the making.2 3

Minimum Viable. My least favorite. Your investigation into their justification reveals that they chose a decision that was not designed to be good; it was constructed to offend the fewest humans. This is not leadership — it’s fear.

Delegated. Rather than doing the minimal work of even making a minimum viable decision, they gave the decision to someone else because — and I quote — “They are more capable of making this decision.” What they are actually saying is, “I would prefer that this human deal with the weight and consequences for this decision.” The good news: at least you got a decision.

Sometimes, they don’t decide. You push, you prod, but they won’t decide. No, they didn’t delegate, no, they didn’t wing it, they just waited and waited… kind’a maybe hoping the need for this decision would vanish. Technically, deciding not to decide is a decision, and that’s a choice, but it’s not leadership.

Context is what matters when understanding a decision. Who is making it? Why now? How have they decided in the past? What happened as a result of these decisions? Are they being forced to decide? Is someone demanding they decide? I could write another ten questions to help you understand the essential context surrounding this decision, but I’d miss a question essential to this specific decision. My only advice: be painfully curious when it comes to decisions. Yes, this is the introduction to this piece tucked into a footnote. Yolo. ↩

Inspired decisions are retroactively rebranded Vanilla decisions after unexpected exceptional results appear. ↩

If results from this type of decision are consistently unexpected, let’s call these decisions Yolo. ↩