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Key Takeaways Slow decisions create hidden costs. Even careful, well-intentioned delays generate friction, extra work and uncertainty, which drains energy and slows execution.
Alignment often follows decisive action; waiting for full agreement blurs accountability and stalls progress.
Leaders set the tempo. Timely, clear decisions enable teams to move confidently and reduce drag.
As a business leader, there’s a tension you feel but rarely name. You’re surrounded by smart people, and they ask good questions. They surface real risks, meetings feel thoughtful, but progress still crawls.
You leave conversations believing alignment exists, only to find a few weeks later that nothing actually moved. That plan is still a draft, and ownership is still fuzzy because people are still waiting for one more signal from you.
When this is happening, it doesn’t feel like indecision. If anything, it feels responsible, careful and mature.
It’s also quietly expensive.
Why slow decisions don’t feel like a problem … at first
Most leaders I’ve worked with don’t think of themselves as “slow decision makers.” They think of themselves as being quite thorough.
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