“Strike while the iron is hot.” Take action at the right moment-don’t wait, or you might miss your chance.
“… enemy of the good”
“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” It’s better to make a good decision quickly than to wait for a perfect one that may never come.
instinctive decision-making
Sully (2016). Based on the real-life Miracle on the Hudson, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger makes a split-second decision to land his disabled plane on the Hudson River. The film shows how immediate, instinctive decision-making can save lives, and that reviewing and correcting decisions can come later.
“Time is money”
“Time is money.” Time wasted is opportunity lost; acting quickly is essential for success.
Disagree and commit
Number 25. From 37signals, the company behind the project management software called Basecamp. Classiv American thinking: think, debate, persuade … decide, then commit and support. One of the founders, Jason Fried, is a very interesting person.
rapid, imperfect
Apollo 13 (1995). When an oxygen tank explodes on the spacecraft, NASA’s ground team and the astronauts must make a series of rapid, imperfect decisions to bring the crew home safely. The film highlights how quick thinking, adaptability, and the willingness to improvise are valued over waiting for perfect solutions. The mantra “failure is not an option” underscores the urgency and necessity of fast action.
Time
German Approach
Germans believe that the time allotted to a decision should be determined by the nature of the decision. And not dictated by internal or external pressures. Germans believe that patience leads to good decisions. Examples
American Approach
In the U.S. an imperfect but fast decision is often preferred over a perfect but slow decision. Imperfect decisions can be corrected. For Americans speed is always of the essence. Examples
American View
For Americans, Germans afford themselves too much time in their decision-making processes. It is difficult to understand why their German colleagues risk angering the customer by taking additional time.
Germans appear overly conservative. From this perspective, German process discipline in decision making can appear rigid, at times in conflict with the purpose of the decision. It is as if the process were more important than the decision itself.
German View
The American tendancy to move fast in order to achieve results quickly can become a source of confusion for Germans. They often have difficulty identifying a clear logic behind the actions taken.
What Americans would term rapid response coupled with a high level of flexibility, their German colleagues would call “Aktionismus” or nervous movement without or at the expense of thought-through action.
Unfortunately, this confusion on the side of the Germans can turn into irritation if they feel blind-sided by an American “Dezisionismus” (hastily decisionism) which endangers their standards of decision-making quality and rhythm.
Advice to Germans
Your operating assumption should be that you have less time at your disposal to make a good decision. Your decision making speed should be based on the time needs of whoever benefits from your decision, whoever is the receiver of your „decision making deliverable.“
Advice to Americans
Be guarded against the cliché that Germans are slow in deciding. Their decisions tend to be further-reaching than the American approach. German colleagues or team leads will allow you more time to make a decision, provided your approach is methodical.
Use the additional time wisely. However, when you perceive the need to decide quickly, inform your German colleagues a.) why this is so, and b.) how a quick decision, if later proven to be suboptimal, can be corrected.