Fast to Decide, Slow to Act - MAC125

“Be quick to decide…but slow to act.” This isn’t just a pithy saying you nod along to and forget; there’s real weight behind it. It’s a quiet strategy that shows up again and again in fast career growth and strong professional reputations. If you’ve ever watched someone get promoted and thought, That seemed sudden, there’s a good chance this was part of the story. From the outside, it looks like an overnight decision; behind the scenes, it’s anything but. They were making clear decisions early, then deliberately working the back-channels; socializing ideas, pressure-testing assumptions, and building confidence in the outcome before taking visible action. This week, we’re taking a deeper look at how this strategy actually works…and how you can apply it at any stage of your career.

Most professionals make the mistake of reversing the adage. They sit with a decision; weighing possibilities, scanning for trouble spots, and searching for more data to increase confidence in the “right” answer. This approach feels responsible. Thoughtful, even. The intent is good; no one wants to make a bad call; especially one that’s visible. So the decision gets pushed later and later; right up to the point where it can’t be delayed any further.

Then something subtle but costly happens. Once the decision is finally made, the switch flips. Action has to be immediate because there’s no runway left. The plan is announced in an email or unveiled in a meeting; fully formed and already in motion. Almost instantly, resistance shows up. Concerns are raised. Questions surface. The data gets analyzed and reanalyzed. Stakeholders ask why they weren’t involved sooner. From the perspective of the decision-maker, this feels like friction or second-guessing. From everyone else’s perspective, it feels abrupt. And even when the decision itself is solid, it’s now at risk; not because it’s wrong, but because people haven’t had time to absorb it.

This resistance isn’t politics in the way most people mean it. It’s not sabotage, or ego, or a hidden agenda suddenly emerging at the worst possible time. It’s a predictable organizational response to surprise. Humans don’t resist decisions; they resist being surprised by decisions that affect them. When a fully formed plan appears without warning, people instinctively shift into evaluation mode. They ask questions not because they oppose the outcome, but because their brains are trying to close the gap between what just happened and how did we get here. The more consequential the decision, the stronger this reaction becomes. What feels like friction is often just the organization doing what it always does when it’s caught flat-footed; slowing things down to regain a sense of understanding and control.

Back to the adage. “Be quick to decide, but slow to act.” The first thing to internalize is that deciding is not the same as announcing. Many professionals conflate the two; assuming a decision only exists once it’s public. In reality, the decision is simply the moment you stop debating and start moving forward. It’s the point where second-guessing ends. Where hesitation fades. Where you stop asking should we and start asking how do we position this. Deciding early creates internal clarity; and that clarity is what allows everything that follows to be intentional rather than reactive.

Once that decision is made, action doesn’t mean immediate implementation. There is a critical phase between the decision point and the execution point; and this phase is where careers quietly accelerate. Instead of rushing to roll something out, high performers use this time to socialize the decision with the people who have influence over whether it succeeds. They invite pressure. They ask for pushback. Not to abandon the idea, but to strengthen it. They win over influencers early. This signals competence. It signals leadership. It builds momentum before anything is formally announced. And when the decision finally reaches the wider group, it no longer feels abrupt; it feels inevitable. That’s when things take off.

Before going further, there’s one detour worth taking. Jeff Bezos popularized the idea of one-way door and two-way door decisions. One-way door decisions are difficult or impossible to reverse. Two-way door decisions are easier to unwind. Both types should be decided quickly; but one-way door decisions demand a longer, more deliberate socialization phase. This is where assumptions get challenged, risks get surfaced, and the decision gets reinforced. When a decision can’t easily be undone, that strengthening process isn’t optional; it’s what makes the eventual action durable.

Let me offer a concrete formula you can use at any career level. It’s deliberately simple; because complexity creates hesitation. Decide. Seed. Shape. Act.

First; Decide. This is internal work. No audience. No deck. No Slack message. You decide what you believe should happen and why. Not perfectly. Not with all the data. But clearly enough that you could explain your reasoning if someone asked. If you can’t articulate the logic in two or three sentences; you haven’t actually decided yet. You’re still circling. Decision is the moment you stop debating and start orienting everything that follows.

Second; Seed. This is where buy-in quietly begins. You choose two or three people who are adjacent to the outcome. Not necessarily the formal decision-makers; often influencers matter more. You bring the idea up casually; one-on-one; low pressure. Your language matters here. You don’t say, “Here’s what I think we should do.” You say, “I’ve been thinking about something and I’m curious how you see it.” You’re not selling. You’re observing. You listen for reactions. You note hesitation. You ask follow-up questions. This isn’t about convincing anyone; it’s about mapping the terrain before you start moving across it.

Third; Shape. This is where the idea evolves; not to water it down; but to make it land. You incorporate language others used. You surface and address objections before they show up in a public forum. You refine the timing, the scope, or the framing. At this stage, people start saying things like, “Yeah, that makes sense,” or, “I hadn’t thought about it that way.” When that happens; something important has shifted. The idea is no longer just yours; it’s becoming shared.

Finally; Act. Now; and only now; do you formalize. Now you send the email. Now you propose the plan. Now you ask for the decision. And here’s the tell that you’ve done this well; the meeting feels anticlimactic. People nod. The questions sound familiar. The outcome feels obvious. That’s not luck. That’s preparation.

This formula works at every career stage; it just shows up a little differently depending on where you sit. Early in your career, seeding might mean a conversation with a senior teammate or a manager you trust. You’re learning how decisions ripple through a system before you trigger them. Mid-career, seeding tends to happen laterally. Peers matter more than titles at this stage; and alignment sideways prevents painful escalation problems later. If you manage a team, seeding is about emotional readiness. You decide direction quickly; but you give people time to process before expecting execution. Different roles; same rhythm.

Now let’s talk about why this feels so uncomfortable. Being slow to act pushes directly against your ego. You don’t get immediate credit. You don’t feel productive in obvious ways. There’s no visible progress you can easily point to. But here’s the tradeoff. You gain credibility. You reduce resistance. You increase follow-through. Careers aren’t accelerated by motion; they’re accelerated by outcomes that stick. And outcomes that stick almost always feel slower on the front end.

Careers don’t stall because people lack ideas. They stall because ideas arrive too fast and land too hard. Be quick to decide; because clarity is power. Be slow to act; because people need time to come with you.

If this episode helped you rethink how you push ideas forward; share it with someone who’s smart; capable; and moving faster than their influence. Subscribe if you haven’t already. Leave a review if this podcast has helped you navigate work more clearly. I’m Layne Robinson. And this is Managing A Career.

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