How to Make Decisions Faster

Jeff Bezos splits decisions into two types. Type 1 decisions are irreversible -- walk through the door and it locks behind you. These deserve slow, careful deliberation. Type 2 decisions are reversible -- walk through, and if you don't like what's on the other side, walk back. These should be made quickly by individuals, not slowly by committees.

His observation: most decisions are Type 2, but most organizations (and most people) treat them like Type 1. The result is a massive, unnecessary drag on everything.

The categorization habit

Before deliberating, spend ten seconds categorizing. What kind of decision is this? What happens if I get it wrong? Can I reverse it?

Where to eat dinner: reversible. Minutes, not hours. What software to try: reversible. Pick one, test it, switch if it's bad. What to wear: who cares. Just pick something.

Getting married, having a child, accepting a major surgical procedure: irreversible. Take your time.

Most decisions fall between these extremes, but closer to the reversible end than people instinctively feel. Match your deliberation time to the actual stakes.

Constraints accelerate everything

Open-ended deliberation expands to fill whatever time you give it, like a gas filling a container. Constrain the container.

• "I'll decide by Thursday."
• "I'm choosing between these three options. I'm not researching more."
• "I'm spending twenty minutes on this. Then I'm choosing."

Constraints don't reduce decision quality. They reduce decision waste. There's a huge difference.

Values as a speed filter

Most deliberation time is actually spent on a hidden problem: confusion about priorities. When you know what you value, many decisions become almost automatic.

"Does this align with my priority of being present for my family?" Yes or no. "Does this move me toward financial independence?" Yes or no. Values convert sprawling, open-ended questions into specific binary ones, and binary questions have fast answers.

The math of faster mistakes

Yes, faster decisions mean more mistakes. But they also mean more attempts, more data, more learning loops, and vastly more time reclaimed from deliberation paralysis. A few wrong turns taken quickly and corrected almost always cost less than one right turn arrived at agonizingly slowly.

If you're 90% sure, go. That last 10% of certainty takes 90% of the deliberation time and almost never changes the outcome.