When you think about it, all business activity (and personal, too) really comes down to two simple things: Making decisions and executing on decisions.
Making those decisions faster can be a big factor in driving successful outcomes.
This is the thesis of a recent article by Dave Girouard, CEO of personal finance startup Upstart, and former President of Google Enterprise Apps.He’s well known for building Google’s enterprise apps division into a $1B+ global business.
Girouard provides valuable perspectives and opinions based on many years of high-growth business experiences.
Fast decisions are better than slow ones. Most aren’t worth more than 10 minutes of debate and analysis. Very few can’t be undone.
Perhaps his best and most productive point is how he’s learned to execute with momentum: Challenge the when.
When “tomorrow” or “next week” is the default in an organization, valuable time is lost that could be spent on building, billing, collecting, and investing in other important decisions.
Not everything needs to be done immediately, but for critical items, it’s always useful to challenge the due date. All it takes is asking the simplest question: “Why can’t this be done sooner?”
Asking it methodically, reliably and habitually can have a profound impact on the speed of an organization. Girouard also emphasizes that you don’t have to turn into a deadline dictator.
“You don’t have to be militant about it, just consistently respond that today is better that tomorrow, that right now is better than six hours from now.”
Speed may add risk to quality but it’s almost always worth the stretch and way less dangerous than you might think.
Got an important decision to make on people, product, pricing, or process?
Make it today – and move on.
Have a great week.
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