8 Practical Ways to Galvanise Your Decision-Making

Struggling to make decisions as your business grows? Welcome to the club. Early on, decision-making feels like second nature—small teams, clear goals, and everyone charging ahead like a well-oiled special forces unit. Problems? Solved. Challenges? Crushed. Fast and furious.

But growth changes the game. Suddenly, you’re faced with decisions where you don’t have all the facts—or worse, don’t even understand the full scope. Sound familiar? Paralysis sets in, and momentum stalls. It’s like what Gareth Chick told me on the Mind Your F**king Business podcast. He coaches Google’s new SVPs, who go from being the go-to experts to leading teams doing work they can’t do themselves. They have to decide without total clarity—just like every CEO scaling a fast-moving company.

So, how do you keep making confident, effective decisions when the stakes are higher, and the answers aren’t obvious? Here are a few lessons from leading three rapidly growing companies.

1. Put in a Process

If decision-making is slowing you down, fix it before it derails growth. The answer? A clear, repeatable process. When new people join your company, they learn the way decisions are made—no guessing, no improvising.

Take Amazon, for example. They’ve nailed this with their meeting process. No endless PowerPoint slides, no rambling agendas. Just a two-page, legible summary of the decision at hand. Meetings start with everyone reading it for ten minutes. Then there’s a discussion, and—here’s the kicker—they actually make a decision. Simple, right?

Compare that to what one of my clients told me recently. “We need to get better at meetings,” he said. His solution? Slide decks sent out three days in advance. Really? Does anyone have time for that? Will they even read them? Of course not.

Here’s the rule: any process you put in place has to be realistic. Don’t set your team up to fail with something overly complicated. Define it, simplify it, and stick to it. This is how we run meetings. This is how decisions get made. No fluff, no PowerPoint karaoke, no wasted time.

2. Does This Decision Move You Closer to Your BHAG?

Here’s the thing: every decision you make—whether it’s a major strategic pivot or choosing which software to buy—needs to serve your Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal (BHAG). If it doesn’t, why are you even considering it?

Your BHAG is the north star for your business. It defines your direction, energises your team, and keeps you focused on the bigger picture. So when a decision pops up, ask yourself: “Does this get us closer to that audacious goal?” If the answer is no, it’s either a distraction or a detour, and neither is worth your time.

This isn’t about being rigid or overly idealistic. It’s about filtering out the noise and making sure every decision pushes you forward, not sideways. Keep your eye on the prize, and let your BHAG be the compass for every call you make.

3. Get to the Root of the Problem

Before you jump to solutions, ask yourself: are you solving the right problem? This might sound basic, but it’s where so many decisions go wrong. Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg—who’s literally written the book on reframing problems—talked about this on Mind Your F**king Business, and it’s worth a listen.

Take a step back and really examine the issue your decision is trying to address. Is it the actual problem, or just a symptom? Spend time digging into the root cause, then reframe it into something simple and actionable. Simplicity is key—it makes it easier to test, iterate, and ultimately solve.

This is why I love OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). They let you frame problems in different ways—committed, ambitious, or even learning OKRs. Decisions don’t always have to be about guaranteed success. They can be about discovery.

Instead, use your decision to define a hypothesis. What are you trying to learn? If the decision doesn’t pan out, that’s okay—it’s still a win if you uncover something useful. The real failure isn’t a misstep; it’s refusing to act because you’re too afraid to be wrong.

4. Spot Bias and Default Decisions

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: every decision starts with a bias. The person seeking the decision already has a default option in mind—even if they don’t admit it. Cassie Kozyrkov, Google’s Chief Decision Scientist, has written extensively about this. Whatever someone knows or believes shapes the direction they’re subconsciously leaning toward. That default becomes the benchmark against which other options are judged.

Acknowledging bias is the first step to making better decisions. By naming the default decision outright, you can scrutinise it. What assumptions are baked into it? Are those assumptions even correct? Once you lay the bias on the table, others can poke holes in it and offer a clearer, more objective perspective.

In fact, one of the most powerful things you can say in this process is, “Here’s where I’m leaning—can you help me spot where I might be wrong?” This creates space for others to challenge your thinking and uncover blind spots.

5. Lay Out the Options

Once you’ve tackled the default decision and picked it apart, it’s time to get strategic. Lay out the alternatives. What other viable options do you have, and how will you gather evidence to evaluate them properly? This step is all about structure—getting everything on the table in a way that lets you make an informed choice.

Now, weigh the impact of each option against the problem you’re trying to solve. Here’s the kicker: there might not be a perfect choice. In fact, there probably won’t be. Instead, you’ll end up with a set of trade-offs, each with its own pros, cons, and compromises.

And that’s okay. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s clarity. Spell out the strengths and weaknesses of each option so you—and anyone else involved—can see the bigger picture. If none of the options is ideal, say so. Acknowledge the caveats and be upfront about the compromises. This transparency builds confidence in your decision-making process and ensures buy-in from others.

Decision-making isn’t about finding a magic bullet; it’s about making the best call with the information you have. Be transparent, weigh the trade-offs, and keep moving forward.

6. Make the Decision—and Plan for What Comes Next

Once you’ve settled on the best option, don’t drag your feet. Make the decision, and immediately think ahead. The best leaders don’t just decide—they anticipate what’s coming.

One way to do this? Pre-mortems. Before you commit, brainstorm all the ways things could go wrong. It’s easy to weigh pros and cons in the moment, but what happens six months—or a year—from now? Think beyond the immediate impact.

Business coach Dan Sullivan’s Impact Filter tool is a great way to sharpen this thinking. Ask yourself: If everything goes perfectly, where does this decision take us? And on the flip side: If it all goes wrong, what’s the worst-case scenario? Knowing both extremes helps clarify the real risks and opportunities.

Consider how Richard Branson approached launching Virgin Atlantic during a recession. He made a bold decision but built in a safety net: He leased planes from Boeing instead of buying them outright. If the airline failed, he’d simply return the planes. It’s a brilliant example of downside mitigation—something venture capitalists and private equity firms do all the time.

The key is this: make your decision work for you. And if it doesn’t, minimise the fallout. If you’ve thought through how to limit exposure, you can act decisively and sleep better at night.

7. Can This Decision Be Reversed?

Jeff Bezos has a knack for quick decision-making, and one of his golden rules is simple: ask yourself if the decision can be undone. If it can, move fast. If it can’t, slow down and think harder.

This approach is all about managing risk. Low-risk decisions? You can say “yes” and course-correct if things don’t go as planned. But when the stakes are high, breaking a big decision into smaller, bite-sized chunks makes all the difference. It gives you more control and flexibility to pivot if needed.

Bezos also has another trick: he makes his big decisions in the morning when his brain is sharpest. Why? Because high-stakes, complex decisions need your A-game. When your mental energy is drained, you’re more likely to make mistakes—or avoid the decision altogether.

The takeaway? If it’s reversible, act fast. If it’s not, break it into smaller steps or tackle it when you’re at your peak. Either way, don’t let the fear of risk paralyse you. Just make sure you’ve got an escape route if things go sideways.

8. Prioritise the Hypothesis

Every decision comes with unknowns, and here’s the mistake most people make: they leave those unknowns until last. Don’t do that. Instead, identify the critical hypothesis baked into the decision and test it first. This one step can save you countless hours—and a whole lot of money.

Think about product launches. How many fail because teams spend months building something only to discover customers won’t buy it? You could avoid that by flipping the process. For instance, I could throw together a simple landing page today, run some Google ads, and by tomorrow, know if anyone’s willing to pay the price I’m considering—before I’ve even made the product.

The same principle applies to any decision. One of our clients recently decided to use a vendor’s account management team as their main route to market. Why? Because one standout account manager had brought him five new customers. Based on that, he planned to hire six salespeople.

I asked, “What if the other account managers aren’t as good as this one?” That got him thinking. He spoke to the rest of the team, and sure enough, none of the others was driving business. He came back feeling like he’d failed. But he hadn’t—he’d saved a huge amount of time and money on a strategy that was destined to flop.

The lesson? Make testing your hypothesis the priority. It’s the fastest way to validate—or invalidate—a decision before you invest too much in it. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, you’ve just dodged a bullet. Either way, you’re moving forward smarter and faster.

Mastering the Decision-Making Process for Business Growth

The decision-making process isn’t just a skill—it’s the engine driving business growth, strategic success, and your ability to adapt in an ever-changing world. Whether you’re a CEO steering a scaling organisation or a leader navigating day-to-day challenges, understanding and refining your decision-making process is non-negotiable.

It starts with clarity. Identify the real problem or opportunity at hand. Then, move deliberately through each stage—gathering relevant information, evaluating options, and selecting a course of action. Rushing or skipping steps isn’t just risky; it’s a surefire way to derail your business decisions.

But let’s face it: effective decision-making isn’t without its hurdles. Bias, incomplete information, and the fear of uncertainty can cloud judgment. That’s why it’s essential to embrace tools like decision trees, cost-benefit analysis, and pre-mortems to stay objective and grounded. These practical techniques don’t just help you choose—they help you learn, adapt, and grow, even when outcomes aren’t perfect.

At its heart, strategic decision-making is about alignment. Every decision, big or small, should move you closer to your goals—whether it’s your Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal or quarterly growth targets. When decisions align with your mission and are informed by a solid framework, they don’t just solve problems; they create opportunities.

So, the next time you face a tough call, remember: the power lies in the process. Make decisions deliberately, mitigate risks smartly, and always prioritise learning. That’s how you build momentum, drive success, and ensure your business is ready for whatever comes next.

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Written by business coach and CEO mentor Dominic Monkhouse. Read his new book, Mind Your F**king Business here.