Three Questions That Lead to Better Business Decisions
If I were to ask you what the past 90 days looked like, would any of the following come to mind?
I can’t fall asleep, or wake up at 2am thinking about work
As soon as I start working on a strategic initiative, I am innundated with other requests that make it impossible for me to make meaningful progress
I don’t have time to develop my team because we are always rushing to meet deadlines
If these messages resonate with you, you are not alone. Increasingly, I have seen experienced executives—ones who have previously led teams through large-scale change, complex problems, and volatile market conditions—struggle.
Harvard Business Review recently described the current operating environment as "ambient urgency"—a state where constant change, competing priorities, and relentless demands make everything feel equally important.
“Leaders are working within a world where urgency—rational or irrational—has become the default operating condition.”
The solution? Ensure the right people are making the right decisions. And, recognize that decisions degrade sharply in high stress, time-sensitive conditions.
The Three Question Framework
Karen Walker proposes three tests or questions to ensure leaders are making fewer, better, and clearer high-stakes decisions amid ambient urgency. My take on her framework coupled with my own experience follows.
Right Person
Q: Are you uniquely positioned to make this decision? Or, are you just making the decision because you have always done it?
Do you have access to critical information, data, or analysis that others lack?
Does your background, role, or experience give you a comparative advantage in making the best decision?
Founders and executives often fall into the trap of becoming a bottleneck when they continue to make every decision they have ever made. Take time to ensure decisions are being made by the person who is uniquely positioned to make the best decision.
Right Impact
Q: Will the decision create value or efficiencies that scale over time, or is its impact limited to the short-term?
When your calendar is packed, it is often difficult to choose to spend more time creating a long-term solution. I have seen manual processes that could have been automated continue for far too long because spending 15 minutes manually inputting information seemed easier than spending four hours creating a process that would eliminate the need for that 15 minute task every week.
Take a longer-term approach to make progress instead of seeking temporary relief in the present.
Right Time
Q: Are you avoiding making a decision because you actually need more time or information, or because you don’t want to risk failure or negative consequences?
I have repeatedly seen employees complete the work that is the most tracked or most easily completed instead of doing the work that they know will have the most impact. If your culture is punitive, employees will start taking the safe route, which inevitably leads to decreased profitability, sales, and innovation.
Focus on the most impactful decisions, and create a culture where your top performers are freed to innovate and move forward on difficult decisions.
Your Leadership Team Doesn't Need More Priorities
In fact, it probably needs fewer. A good priority should allow people make specific decisions to drive predictable outcomes.
It should answer:
What are we trying to accomplish?
How will it move the needle now?
What are we willing to deprioritize to make room for it?
This Is Where a Fractional COO Can Help
One of the most valuable things an operational leader can do is create clarity.
A Fractional COO can help an executive team:
Translate broad strategic goals into specific organizational priorities
Identify competing initiatives and eliminate unnecessary work
Establish clear ownership and accountability
Build a realistic operating plan around available resources
Create decision-making frameworks for competing demands
Identify operational problems that are consuming disproportionate leadership attention
Establish a cadence for reviewing and adjusting priorities as circumstances change
The goal isn't to predict everything that will happen, but to build an organization that can respond to effectively to change.
The Best Leaders Don't Do More
Successful organizations will always have more opportunities than capacity in the form of good ideas, customer requests, new systems and technologies, markets, etc.
Great leaders decide what matters the most and give their organizations permission to let the rest wait.
