Mistaking Speed For Strategy

Imagine that time when the brief needed a direction or the budget needed to be locked in, and somewhere between the deadline and the room full of people waiting on you, a decision gets made only because making it feels like moving forward and provides a sense of relief. It could turn out to be right, but leaving it to chance is a tactical error predicated on a faulty strategy.

Researchers studying the need for cognitive closure found that under time pressure, most people don't get sharper, but they do get faster. Why? Not because they found the answer, but because uncertainty became more uncomfortable than the risk of being wrong.

This is dangerous at the leadership level because the more senior you are, the more your relief gets mistaken for wisdom. Think of it as the cousin to the loudest voice in the room syndrome. A CMO who decides quickly signals confidence, and that confidence signals competence, resulting in the organization starting to reward speed over substance, all while quietly accumulating the costs of diluted brand equity, misallocated spend, and strategies that felt bold yesterday are broken in three months.

So what, you say. Here's what: effective marketing leaders avoid premature decisions, which is different from avoiding making them. They've learned to quickly recognize the difference between a decision that needed to happen now and one that happened now because waiting felt like weakness.

Here's what I ask in my endless pursuit of being a better decision maker:

• Is clarity or the pursuit of relief/comfort driving this?
• Have I considered alternative perspectives/views/opinions?
• Is the signal worth the pause?

The greatest weariness comes from decisions not made.