How To Make Decisions Like A Fortune 500 CEO

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Think about the last time you made the right snap decision. You had to react quickly, and said exactly the right words. There was no time to second guess yourself. No time for your mind to be filled with self doubt. You acted on instinct, and leveraged all the skills you’ve been developing up until now.

It doesn’t always work like that. If there’s time to process something, we stop acting on instinct and default to making decisions by analyzing and weighing potential risks.

Comedian Bill Hader recalls his audition for Saturday Night Live in 2004:

I got in an elevator, and there was a guy who was also auditioning, and I thought: “That guy brought a lot of props. I didn’t bring anything.” And he was looking at me, going, “That guy didn’t have to bring any props.” We were just sizing each other up in the elevator. And that was Andy Samberg.

When the time came to audition, Bill was nervous. When he finally got up on stage, he did the first thing that came to mind - an impression of an older Italian man named Vinny Vedecci, who would later become a recurring character on SNL.

Before flying out to the audition, he already had the endorsement of famous actor and comedian Megan Mullally, but seeing Andy Samberg in that elevator was enough to plant doubt in his mind.

Everyone has their own version of that elevator story - their own reasons for hesitating when instead they should be resolute. But some are better at channeling their inner Vinny Vedecci when the time finally comes to get up on that stage.

Successful business leaders and executives fall into that group. They’re usually very good at making decisions with minimal information because of the sheer volume of decisions they need to make every day.

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeirevzin/2018/06/21/how-to-make-decisions-like-a-fortune-500-ceo/