By Ramkumar Seshu, , Author of Born to Win and Antar Prerana – Leadership Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita
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𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵
“𝙄𝙣 2025, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣-𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣.”
I recently watched a promising Bangalore startup die—not from lack of vision, funding, or talent, but from analysis paralysis. While they spent six months “getting the decision right,” three competitors launched, iterated, and captured the market.
This isn’t uncommon. In our work with 250+ organizations, we’ve discovered that agility in decision-making—not decision quality—has become the primary differentiator between companies that scale and those that stagnate.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰
Most leadership teams are trapped in decision-making processes designed for a slower world. You’ve experienced this:
• 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲: Every decision requires multiple stakeholders, multiple meetings, multiple revisions
• 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀: Waiting for 100% certainty in a 70% certain world
• 𝗛𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆𝘀: Decisions climbing organizational ladders while opportunities disappear
• 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Gathering more data instead of acting on sufficient information
The result? While you’re perfecting decisions, the market is making them irrelevant.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲
Consider this: Netflix made the decision to shift from DVDs to streaming in 18 months. Kodak spent 10 years analysing whether digital photography was worth pursuing. Netflix transformed entertainment; Kodak became a case study.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻—𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 “𝗜 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗡” 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸
𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟭: “𝗜 𝗖𝗔𝗡” – Personal Decision Mastery Train yourself to distinguish between reversible and irreversible decisions. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos called these “Type 1” and “Type 2” decisions. Type 2 (reversible) decisions should be made with 70% of the information you wish you had.
𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟮: “𝗪𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗡” – Distributed Decision Rights Stop being the decision bottleneck. Our client, an automotive parts manufacturer, reduced decision time from 3 weeks to 3 days by creating clear decision rights. Each team level knows exactly what they can decide without escalation.
𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟯: “𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗖𝗔𝗡” – Organizational Decision Intelligence Build systems that enable good decisions at every level. Create decision frameworks, not decision committees.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀
𝟭. 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲-𝗕𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Set decision deadlines. Our Pune client instituted “Decision Fridays”—every pending decision gets resolved, even if it means choosing the best available option rather than the perfect one.
2. 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗺 𝗩𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼n Define the minimum data needed for each decision type. Stop gathering information when you reach the threshold. More data rarely improves decision quality after the 70% mark.
3. 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 Build mechanisms to quickly recognize and correct wrong decisions. This removes the pressure to be perfect and increases willingness to decide quickly.
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁, 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳:
• How many decisions are currently waiting for “more information”?
• What percentage of your decisions could be made with 70% of current information?
• How often do you reverse decisions compared to how often you delay them?
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱
Start this week: Pick three pending decisions and set 48-hour deadlines for resolution. Use the “good enough with quick correction” principle instead of the “perfect with slow execution” approach.
𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: 𝗜𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀—𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗹𝘆.
Your competitors aren’t just trying to make better decisions than you. They’re trying to make more decisions, faster decisions, and then iterate based on results.
The question isn’t whether you can make good decisions. The question is whether you can make good decisions fast enough to matter.
𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯? 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 : I LOOK FORWARD TO TALK TO YOU. CLICK THIS LINK
