There is no such thing as done...

There is no such thing as done...

So many ambitious, driven underachievers fall into this trap.

This misunderstood superpower has allowed me to achieve exceptional results across industries, executive functions, and platforms for over two decades.

But first, a story...

?? I'd seen emails like this before, "...we need you to come to the home office and explain your recent decisions. The leadership team feels you're not taking enough time..."

The friction had been palpable for months.

So I got in my car and drove to the home office. I knew what was coming: an inquisition-style meeting where I'd be forced to explain my thought process on various high-level decisions.

They thought I was "Shooting from the hip."

Corporate bureaucrats always feel this way about entrepreneurs.

? Their job is to protect their territory. They avoid decisions at all costs. When forced to make a decision, they use Big Consulting language like "Consensus," "Buy-in," and "Best Practice."

It's self-preservation. Their job isn't growth, innovation, or results; it's doing enough to keep their job.

As entrepreneurs, we don't have the luxury of wasting tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on exhaustive research, case study analysis, and consultants' approval.

The entrepreneur's job is understanding their customers, building products that solve problems, and scaling to escape velocity.

The decision-making cycle for a corporate bureaucrat could be 18 months...for entrepreneurs, it's 18 minutes.

So I stood in the middle of a conference room, executives surrounding me in a horseshoe-shaped table setting.

They asked me questions, one by one, ranging from hiring to technology to marketing strategy, partnerships, and organizational structure.

?? ...each more confident than the next, they'd catch me on lazy or incomplete thought processes.

?? ...each more disappointed than the next; I'd considered my decisions carefully and in alignment with our mission.

They couldn't rationalize how I could make dozens of decisions in a week when they couldn't even make one decision a quarter...

How is this possible?

? The 80% Rule.

Popularized by Dan Sullivan and famously practiced by Jeff Bezos (although his rule is 70%), the 80% Rule says to make decisions based on 80% of the information you think you need - because if you wait until you have 100% of the required information, you'll be too slow and with little added value.

You don't need 100% of the information to make the right decision.

I learned this in 2014 while building Agency Nation to over 500,000 audience members in less than four years.

To make decisions at the pace necessary for growth, we must exchange "All" the information for "enough" information.

There's risk, no doubt. People will question you. "Corporates" won't understand...but I'd argue there is even more risk in waiting to gather ALL the information.

In this regard, Zuckerberg had it right, "Move fast and break things."

He didn't explain that you'll have to endure endless questioning (#GNF) and rapidly fix the things you break.

Strive for "enough" information and then have the guts to make the call.

This is the way.

- Hanley

p.s. To explore the rabbit hole further, you can just start here .