We live in a fast moving world. We have hundreds of things to cater to and several others keep vying for our attention. Our bosses, family and everyone else expect a prompt response and expect us to be super efficient. Whether we like it or not, this has become the reality of our lives.

Now, we do see people around who have come to terms with this reality and seem to develop a knack of taking quick decisions, execute fast and get results. This, especially in a work context, makes me wonder whether this is an optimal approach.

  • Are we able to consider key, if not all, parameters necessary for that decision?
  • Are we able to see the linkages it may have with other facets of the system? (system thinking)
  • Are we able to see the bigger picture, the long term view while executing for the short term?
  • Are we compromising on quality somewhere or hiding the details under the carpet?

Interesting thing is, when you start asking these questions and introspecting, you will often find the answer as ‘yes’ to one or many of the questions above. So, may be, the decision making and/or the execution needs some pauses, it may need to be a bit slower or at the right pace (custom). There is no right answer or ‘one answer fits all’ but understanding the problem is the first step towards that answer.