The decision you’re avoiding
I remember the meeting like it was yesterday.
One of my leaders sat me down and said, ‘We need a decision."
"We've been waiting for week weeks on the launch timing for the product. The team needs to know to work out what needs to be pushed out of this release. And honestly, they're starting to wonder if we're actually doing this."
I felt it immediately.
That sinking feeling in your chest when you realise you've become the bottleneck.
She wasn't being dramatic. She was right.
I'd been sitting on that decision for weeks, telling myself I needed more data. More market validation. More certainty about timing.
But what I was really doing was avoiding the discomfort of deciding with incomplete information.
And while I waited for perfect clarity, my team was stuck in a holding pattern.
Here's what I didn't see at the time.
When I delayed one decision, I wasn't just slowing down that project. I was creating a cascade.
Her team couldn't finalise scope. Which meant design couldn't finish. Which meant engineering couldn't plan their sprint. Which meant marketing couldn't start preparing messaging. Which meant partnerships couldn't have conversations with potential launch partners.
One delayed decision was holding up five teams.
Worse, my indecision was sending a signal I never intended: "We're not sure about this. Maybe it's not important. Maybe we should wait."
That's not leadership. That's organisational paralysis disguised as thoughtfulness.
I've been there more times than I want to admit.
As a CEO, some days felt like an endless stream of decisions. Small ones, big ones, ones with far-reaching consequences. And one factor lived inside all of them: I had incomplete information.
There were days when this was exhausting.
And there were many days when I told myself that tomorrow would bring more data. That waiting another week would make the decision easier.
It never did.
The information I was waiting for rarely showed up. And even when it did, there was always another question, another variable, another reason to wait just a bit longer.
Meanwhile, my team was paying the price.
Then I heard Jeff Bezos describe how he thinks about decisions.
It was in a conversation with Adam Grant, and Bezos laid out something so simple I almost missed it.
He said he categorises every decision using just two variables: Is it reversible? And what's the consequence of being wrong?
That's it. Two questions.
He calls them Type 1 and Type 2 decisions.
Type 1 decisions are hard to reverse and high consequence. One-way doors. Once you walk through, you've committed.
These are things like changing your business model, entering a new market, or hiring a C-level executive. These deserve your time, your judgment, and deep consideration.
Type 2 decisions are easy to reverse and lower consequence. Two-way doors. You walk through, test it out, and if it's wrong, you step back.
Things like adjusting messaging, testing new pricing, piloting a team ritual, or yes—launch timing for a product.
The insight that hit me: I was treating Type 2 decisions like Type 1 decisions.
And that was killing our momentum.
The product launch timing I was sitting on?
That was a Type 2 decision pretending to be a Type 1.
If we launched in Q2 and the market wasn't ready, we could pull back and relaunch in Q3. If the scope was wrong, we could adjust it. If the messaging didn't land, we could pivot.
It was reversible. The consequence of being wrong was low.
But I'd been agonising over it like it would define the next five years of the company.
Once I saw that, everything changed.
I made the decision that afternoon. Q2 launch. Here's the scope. Here's why it matters. Here's what happens next.
My leader left that meeting energised. Her team moved. Five other teams moved. We launched weeks later.
Was it perfect? No.
Did we adjust things along the way? Absolutely.
But we were moving, learning, and building momentum instead of waiting in a fog of indecision.
What actually changes
After I started using this framework, something shifted across the entire organization.
We stopped treating every decision like it required my input. The team started asking themselves: "Is this reversible? What's the real consequence?"
If it was a Type 2 decision, they made it. They shared how and why they decided. They moved fast and learned.
If it was a Type 1 decision—truly hard to reverse and high consequence—they escalated it to me with context, not just for permission.
The result?
Decision velocity increased. Execution accelerated. And I recovered enormous amounts of time and energy that had been consumed by being the bottleneck for every choice.
But the biggest change wasn't operational. It was cultural.
My team stopped fearing decisions. They stopped waiting for perfect information. They started trusting their judgment because I trusted them to know the difference between a one-way door and a two-way door.
And I stopped waking up exhausted by the weight of every decision.
The bottom line
The real constraint in your business isn't strategy or resources. It's often you. Holding onto decisions that don't need your time, agonizsng over choices that are reversible, becoming the bottleneck when you're trying to be thoughtful.
Your business can't grow faster than you can decide.
So here's my question for you: How many Type 2 decisions are you treating like Type 1 decisions?
How many decisions are sitting on your desk right now that are reversible, low consequence, and just need someone to make the call?
What if you gave your team the framework to decide for themselves and only escalated the true one-way doors?
I read every email.
I’ll see you next Wednesday.
The Partnership Playbook Podcast
Here are this week’s podcast episodes.
PARTNERSHIPS MOMENT
EP 128 - 8 min: 10 blind spots that GTM leaders actively work on to drive growth. Ever feel like your deals were solid until they weren’t? When Q4 slips, it’s rarely the market’s fault. It’s often the quiet habits inside leadership routines that go unnoticed. In this episode you’ll learn how to: Replace wishful thinking with probability-driven strategy, stop pushing pressure and start enforcing process and treat December as the launchpad for Q1 growth. Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify
LEADERSHIP MOMENT
EP 140 - 7 min: How Jeff Bezos makes decisions to unlock growth. Every CEO knows the drag created when decisions stall. That gap between information and action quietly erodes trust, slows execution, and creates cultural drag. In this episode, I unpack Jeff Bezos’s decision framework — refined in conversation with Adam Grant — and show how increasing your decision velocity drives partnership alignment, organisational clarity, and sustained growth Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify
CEO INTERVIEW
EP 124 - 1 hr 5 min: Niven Postma. What if the greatest opportunity for your career and your impact lies in the invisible spaces between words on your job description? In this deeply thoughtful conversation, Niven Postma reveals the often overlooked realities of leadership, power, and politics in organisations. Understand why organisational politics aren't a bug, they're a feature, and how you can ethically and effectively navigate them. Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify
When you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
1. CEO Coaching: For CEO’s who want to lead with clarity and grow their business without sacrificing what matters most. A tailored 12-week experience with three interconnected elements: scaling you as a leader, elevating how you lead others, and creating conditions for sustainable business growth.
2. The Partnership Lab: A 6-week experience for founders, CEOs, and GTM leaders who are done with slow growth and stalled conversations. Learn to rapidly qualify and prioritise high-value partners, Install a system that turns conversations into contracts and capture outsized returns from partnerships that scale. Apply to join the first 2026 cohort today!
3. Join a free masterclass: Each week I pull back the curtain on frameworks, tactics, and real-world partnership strategies you can put into play immediate. Invite your team and bring your questions. This is your time.
4. Leadership Events: From Cochlear and Lifeblood to military leaders, I have shared inspiring stories and practical frameworks and insights that shift how leaders leverage partnerships for growth. Book me to speak at your next conference, offsite, or leadership event.
Looking for something different? Send me an email.
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