The decision making framework to get you moving forward faster

A great decision making framework is the concept of “one way and two way door decisions.”

What is a one way door decision?

A one way door decision is one that is irreversible, or cannot be easily reversed. Think about firing an employee, or setting up a new office for the company. For these sorts of decisions, you should put in the time and effort to be reasonably sure of your choice. If it turns out to be the wrong choice, you can’t go back, or it could cost a lot of money to undo. These mistakes are very time and resource intensive, so you need to be sure of your choice.

What is a two way door decision?

A two way door decision is one that is easily reversed. Think about turning left or right at an intersection (if you’re not running late) or starting a planning document for a project. If you don’t have enough information to decide, just pick one. If it turns out to be right, that’s great. If not, you haven’t lost much time and effort, just change course. Sure you lost a little bit, but it’s generally better than staying still.

There’s a bit of a caveat here. Make sure you consider how much effort it would take to get the information you need to make a decision. If you have GPS for example, just pop in your destination. No need to make small mistakes for learning. If you’re in a situation where it would take 6 months of research vs 10 minutes of actually doing it, then just do it. You’ll save time by making the reversible mistake and be moving in the right direction that much faster.

Wrapping it up

One way door decisions require careful consideration. For two way door decisions, if you can find the answer fast, you should proceed with that choice. If not, just pick one and start. You’ll find the answer along the way and be moving in the right direction sooner than you would have by spending months researching to avoid a mistake.