Latest / Daily Influence / 730. Decision Velocity: Why Strong Leaders Don’t Wait for Perfect Information

Transcript

730. Decision Velocity: Why Strong Leaders Don’t Wait for Perfect Information · Daily Influence

• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Daily Influence, your daily dose of positive influence.
• 0:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Brian Smith founder of IA Business Advisors and co-author of the Iain team series.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Each day we share stories and insights to help you find be and build your influence in a positive and responsible way.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm Greg Clino, partner at IA Business Advisors, and co-host of Daily Influence.
• 0:32
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• 0:39
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• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Hey everybody, Brian Smith here with the I'm team series and your daily influence and today I'm going to talk about decision velocity and what I mean by decision velocity is, you know, how quickly we make decisions and really what goes into being able to do that on a cadence that is healthy and valuable to your organizations because one of the biggest differences between organizations that grow and organizations that struggle,
• 1:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: is not really intelligence, it's not even the resources oftentimes, it's the ability to make decisions with clarity, confidence, and consistency.
• 1:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Too many businesses become trapped in hesitation.
• 1:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Teams wait too long, leaders over analyze, departments avoid ownership, and eventually the lack of movement creates more damage than the possibility of even making the wrong decision.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: decision velocity is not about being reckless.
• 1:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's about creating a culture where thoughtful decisions can move at the speed required to support growth, trust, and momentum.
• 1:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: In smart management, which we teach here at IA and the IM team series, we often talk about discipline, communication, accountability, and alignment.
• 2:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: Decision velocity sits right in the middle of all of them because slow or unclear decisions create confusion throughout the entire organization.
• 2:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: So today I want to give you a few thoughts on my decision velocity matters and how leaders can improve how you make decisions and how quickly you make them.
• 2:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: When decisions linger, teams lose momentum, and players become uncertain, accountability actually weakens, frustration increases, and customers feel inconsistency.
• 2:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: Organizations rarely stop because of one catastrophic moment.
• 2:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: They slow down over time because hesitation becomes cultural, in smart communication, clarity matters.
• 3:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: People need to know who owns the decision,
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  [SPEAKER_01]: What the objective is, what the timeline is, what success looks like and what happens next.
• 3:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because without clarity, people begin waiting on each other.
• 3:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: One of the biggest hidden costs in business is organizational waiting, waiting for approval, waiting for direction, waiting for someone else to take responsibility.
• 3:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Strong leaders understand that movement creates energy.
• 3:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Even imperfect movement often creates learning, adaptation, and improvement faster than endless analysis.
• 3:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: You cannot build a five-performing culture if every important decision becomes emotionally heavy, or politically complicated.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: Fast decisions do not come from personality alone.
• 3:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: They come from systems.
• 3:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: Some organizations depend entirely on one charismatic leader
• 4:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: that may work for a while and eventually it creates bottlenecks, exhaustion, and organizational dependency.
• 4:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Smart management teaches structure because structure reduces confusion.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: When roles are clear, when objectives are measurable, when communication is disciplined, decision making speeds up naturally.
• 4:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: Can you mind asking why?
• 4:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because people understand their authority.
• 4:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: They understand their accountability, their boundaries, and their tactical responsibilities.
• 4:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: Decision velocity improves what organizations stop treating every issue like a crisis.
• 4:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: Not every decision deserves a three hour meeting.
• 4:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: Not every decision deserves a 15-minute meeting.
• 4:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: One of the helliest things a leadership team can ask is, what level of decision is this really?
• 4:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Some decisions require deep strategic thinking.
• 4:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: Others simply require responsible execution.
• 5:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: Material organizations know the difference.
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Emotions slow as decisions when people fear blaming politics or failure.
• 5:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Structure accelerates decisions because expectations are already understood.
• 5:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Tees move faster when trust exists.
• 5:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: We've talked about this over and over.
• 5:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: Not blind trust though, responsible trust.
• 5:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: In the Iron Team series, we discussed the role of individual influence inside collective success.
• 5:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: Decision velocity is heavily connected to influence because people follow clarity and confidence.
• 5:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: If employees believe leadership communicates honestly, mistakes are handled constructively, accountability is fair and objectives are consistent, then they become more comfortable making decisions themselves.
• 5:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: micro management destroys decision velocity.
• 5:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: When every employee feels in a permission for every move, organizations become rigid and reactive, strong leaders create intelligent autonomy.
• 6:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: That means training people properly, giving them frameworks, providing measurable expectations, and supporting responsible risk-taking.
• 6:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: A healthy organization should not freeze every time uncertainty appears, in fact, the modern business environment requires adaptability.
• 6:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: Markets both fast now, technology changes continuously, and customer expectations are changing fast and oftentimes at inconsistent intervals.
• 6:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Organizations that cannot make timely decisions, eventually become operational and exhausted trying to catch up.
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Decision velocity is not about speed for the sake of speed.
• 6:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: It is about reducing unnecessary friction so the organization can stay healthy, responsive, and intentional.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: One reason leaders delaying decisions is because they want certainty.
• 7:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: But certainty is often an illusion.
• 7:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can gather data forever and still not eliminate risk at some point leadership requires judgment.
• 7:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: smart communication and organizational alignment matter most.
• 7:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes leaders need to just ask, do we have enough information to move responsibly?
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Not, do we have all the possible information?
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Because if you wait for perfect information, opportunities can disappear, competitors can move first, teams can lose confidence, and momentum will fade.
• 7:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: That is an important distinction.
• 7:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: Decision velocity is not just making quick decisions.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: It is creating the ability to adapt after decisions are made.
• 7:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: That requires humility, communication, and it requires leaders who are secure enough to make adjustments without seeing adaptation as a weakness.
• 8:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: But decision velocity is ultimately about organizational confidence.
• 8:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Confidence, confidence, structure, confidence in communication, confidence in accountability, and confidence in its people.
• 8:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: The organizations that thrive long-term are not always the smartest organizations in the room.
• 8:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Often, they are simply the organizations capable of making clear, responsible decisions without becoming trapped in fear, ego, or endless delay.
• 8:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you want to improve decision velocity, start reproducing confusion, clarify the rules, clarify the expectations, clarify the communication, and clarify accountability, because clarity creates moving and movement when guided responsibly creates momentum.
• 9:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for joining me on the daily influence and here with us at the IOM team series or remember,
• 9:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Have a great day.