Swinging Door Decisions

I was on an interview a few months back and thought someone had a great analogy describing decision-making around issues in a thoughtful way. The company had a big bias for action and I have that same bias too. I was keenly interested in this methodology. What he was saying was that the technical decisions and how long the team was allowed to churn on issues and impacts were related to whether the door swung in only one direction and thus was only one way (like the airport doors above) or if the door easily swung in both directions like a set of bar doors. In the case of the one-way door, there was ample time given to all the participants and permutations because once a decision was made, it was not easy to go back and change it. In the case of the two-way bar doors, given it was easy to reverse course, a reasonable amount of time was allowed for analysis and debate but the decision was not allowed to drag on since if there was a need to change direction due to new information it was easy to course correct with little to no impact.

While this seems like a simple analogy and it is, I have repeated it to my teammates and others I interact with as well as I have used it in my personal life decisions as I find we often get too hung up on the perfect answer after gathering all possible data and viable paths. Analysis paralysis and decision fatigue are two conditions we encounter too often. I have found using this tool has helped me be more comfortable with the choices I do make.