Things Leaders Do

A Framework for Making Wise Decisions as a Leader

• Colby Morris

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0:00 | 25:35

Use the GRIT framework to make wise decisions without perfect information: Gather the right information, Reflect on your values, Involve the right people, and Take action and own the outcome.

You've been staring at a decision for two weeks. You're waiting for perfect clarity. It's not coming. Most leaders either freeze or guess - neither works.

You'll learn:

  • A simple 4-step framework for making confident decisions without all the facts
  • How to know when you've gathered enough information
  • The question that changes everything before you decide
  • How to involve people without creating decision paralysis
  • What it actually means to own the outcome

Questions this episode answers:

  • How do I make confident decisions without all the facts?
  • When should I stop gathering information and just decide?
  • How do I involve people without turning it into a committee?
  • What's the difference between a fast decision and a framework decision?

Key takeaway: Good leaders don't wait for perfect clarity. They have a process for making wise decisions with whatever information they actually have.

Connect with Colby Morris:

Colby works with organizations through keynote speaking, executive coaching, and leadership training to build people-first cultures that get results.


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SPEAKER_00

People first leadership. Actionable strategies, real results. This is Things Leaders Do with Colby Morris.

The Cost Of Delayed Decisions

Freezing Vs Guessing Pitfalls

Why Certainty Never Arrives

Introducing The GRIT Framework

G: Gather The Right Information

R: Reflect On Values And Priorities

I: Involve The Right People

T: Take Action And Own Outcomes

When To Use GRIT And Heuristics

Recap And Confidence To Decide

New Series, Services, And CTA

SPEAKER_01

Let me first start with this. If you were wondering where last week's episode was, well, it's today. Because I went on a work trip and thought I had posted that episode for last Tuesday. However, I scheduled it for this week instead. So maybe I should do a podcast about planning properly. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this week's episode. Let me guess. You're staring at a decision right now that you probably should have made two weeks ago. Maybe three weeks. I mean, who's counting? You are. You're definitely counting. It's not a huge decision. It's not life or death. I mean, nobody's going to lose their job over this, but it's big enough that you just can't flip a coin and move on. So you've been gathering more information, talking to more people, you know, running more scenarios in your head at 2 a.m. Waiting for that magical moment of perfect clarity where the right answer just becomes super obvious and everyone agrees and there's a confetti parade. Except that hasn't happened. And spoiler alert, it's probably not going to. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, your team is waiting, the project is kind of just sitting there. And every day you don't decide is costing you something. Momentum, credibility, or just the sure opportunity to actually just move forward and do literally anything. The tricky part about leadership? Making decisions is easy when the answer is obvious. Like should we evacuate the building during a fire? Yeah, that one's pretty straightforward. The hard part is making decisions when you don't have all the information. When both options kind of suck. When you know that no matter what you choose, someone's going to be unhappy and they're probably going to email you about it. And most leaders deal with this in one of two ways. Either they freeze, they gather more data, delay the meeting, reschedule the conversation, you know, just hope the problem just magically resolves itself. Like maybe if they ignore it long enough, it'll get tired and leave. It won't. Or they guess. They make a quick call based on gut instinct and just hope for the best. Which is basically leadership roulette. Sometimes you win. Often you don't. And either way, you've got no idea why. Neither of these work, by the way. Freezing makes you a bottleneck. Your team starts wondering if you're actually capable of making a call, or if they should just start bringing decisions to your house plant instead of you, because at least the plant doesn't reschedule meetings. And guessing? Well, guessing makes you reckless. Sure, you look decisive, right? But when you guess wrong, and you will, you've got no way to explain it, no way to learn from it, and approximately zero credibility left with your team. So what's the answer? Today I'm giving you a simple framework for making wise decisions. Not perfect decisions, wise ones. Decisions you can make confidently, even when you don't have all the facts. Decisions you can actually explain and defend without resorting to, I don't know, it just felt right. Because good leaders don't wait for perfect clarity. They have a process for making sound decisions with whatever information they actually hey leaders, this is Colby Morris, and you're listening to the Things Leaders Do podcast. I've got about 20 minutes of real actionable guidance coming your way. You know, I say 20 minutes. It could be 30, it could be 15. I try to keep it under 30. There's no corporate buzzwords, no theory you'll never use. I try to give you just practical tools you can put to work today. So let's get into it. Here's what happened to most leaders when they're facing a big decision. They gather information, they talk to people, they make spreadsheets. Oh, the spreadsheets. They run scenarios, they sleep on it, they wake up and run more scenarios. And then they do it all again the next week because they're waiting for certainty. They're waiting for that moment when the right answer becomes crystal clear and everyone agrees, and there's literally no downside, and angels sing. But that moment never comes because most leadership decisions don't have a right answer. They have trade-offs. Option A has benefits and risks. Option B has different benefits and different risks. And you've got to pick one, knowing that either way, something's probably going to go a little bit sideways. So what do you do? You keep gathering data, you keep asking for input, you schedule another meeting to discuss the meeting that you had about the decision. And meanwhile, your team is stuck. That project isn't moving. Opportunities slipping away like you know, water through your fingers. And people are starting to have quiet conversations in the break room about whether you're actually going to make a call or if you're just professionally avoiding things. Look, indecision is a decision. Did you hear me? Indecision is a decision. And it's usually the worst one. When you don't decide, you're choosing the status quo. You're choosing to let circumstances decide for you. You're choosing to stay stuck while the world moves on without you. And your team notices. Oh, they notice. They start to lose confidence. They start to question your leadership. They stop bringing decisions altogether because they know you're just going to schedule a follow-up meeting to think about scheduling the real meeting. Okay. Now, on the flip side, some leaders go to the complete opposite direction. They make quick calls, you know, based on that gut instinct. They decide fast, they move on, deal with the consequences later. Very ready fire aim type energy. And look, I respect decisiveness. I really do. It's better than paralysis by analysis any day of the week. Making a quick decision with absolutely no process? That's that's not decisiveness. That's just guessing with confidence. And when you guess wrong, which you will frequently, you've got no way to explain why you made it. No way that you're going to learn from that, and your team is just staying there, like, cool, so we're just winging it now? Is that the strategy? So what's the answer? You need a framework, an actual process for making wide decisions, even when you don't have perfect information. Even when both options kind of stink. Even when you'd really rather just go home and pretend like this isn't your problem. And that's what I'm giving you today. All right. Here's a framework. Four steps. Simple, practical, immediately usable. You can literally use this this afternoon. The acronym is Grit, G-R-I-T, because making good decisions requires grit. You've got to push through the uncertainty. You have to ignore the anxiety brain that wants you to delay forever and actually make the call. So, G, gather the right information. Notice I didn't say gather all the information. I said gather the right information. Because here's the trap most leaders fall into. You can spend literally forever gathering more data, more opinions, more scenarios, more research, more meetings where people share their thoughts for 45 minutes while you slowly lose the will to live. But most of that information isn't actually helping you make a better decision. It's just making you feel like you're doing something productive while you avoid the scary part, which is actually deciding. It's like, you know, when you reorganize your desk instead of starting that big project, you're busy, sure, but are you making progress? Absolutely not. So instead, ask yourself this. What information do I actually need to make this decision? Not what information could I gather if I had unlimited time in a research team. What information do I genuinely need to make a wise call? Here's a simple test. If having this piece of information would genuinely change your decision, go get it. If it wouldn't actually change what you decide, stop. Stop gathering and move on. You're just procrastinating at that point. So let's use an example. You're trying to decide whether to launch a new product line. You could spend six months doing market research. You could do focus groups, you could, you know, have all the competitive analysis, financial modeling, I don't know, customer surveys, and possibly a vision quest in the desert. And all that might be interesting, some of it might even be useful. But what do you actually need to know? Things like, is there a real customer need for this, or are we just bored? Can we deliver it profitably, or are we about to light money on fire? Does it align with our strategic direction, or is this a you know shiny object distraction? What is the actual risk if it fails? Like, are we bankrupt or just embarrassed? If you can answer those four questions, you've got enough information to decide. Everything else is just noise. Expensive, time-consuming noise that makes you feel busy, but doesn't actually help. So gather the right information, not all the information, just the right information. Then move to the next step before you convince yourself you need to do one more round of research. All right. The second letters are reflect on your values and priorities. This is a step I've seen a ton of leaders skip. And honestly, it's the one that matters most because every decision you make as a leader says something about what you value, whether you mean it or not. Your decisions are like a highlighter marking what actually matters to you, not what you say matters in your company, you know, value posters that nobody reads. What actually matters when push comes to shove and you've got to choose. So before you decide, ask yourself, what's most important here? Is it speed, quality, cost, team morale, customer satisfaction, long-term growth? Not setting a precedent that's going to haunt you for the next five years every time someone says, well, remember we did that thing. Because here's the reality. You can't optimize for everything. You can't. Every decision involves trade-offs. You're going to have to sacrifice something. And if you don't know what you're willing to sacrifice, you're going to make a decision that doesn't actually reflect what matters most to you. And then you're going to lie awake at 2 a.m. regretting it. Ask me how I know. Actually, don't. It's embarrassing. All right, here's your example. You've got a project that's behind schedule. Classic scenario, happens all the time. So you could push the team to work weekends to hit the deadline, or you could push the deadline back and protect your team's work-life balance. Both are valid options. Neither is technically wrong. But which one you choose depends on what you value more in this specific situation. Hitting the deadline or protecting your team. And by the way, the answer might be different depending on the situation. Okay, if this deadline affects a major client contract that can make or break the quarter, maybe you push. If it's an internal deadline, you kind of, you know, made up because you don't like round numbers. Maybe you don't destroy your team's weekend over it. But if you don't reflect on that before you decide, you're going to make a call that doesn't align with your actual priorities. And then you're going to spend the next week explaining to people why you made a decision that seems completely random and nobody is buying your explanation because even you don't even really know why you decided that. So reflect. What's most important here? What are you optimizing for? What are you willing to sacrifice? Write it down if you need to. Seriously. Sometimes seeing it on paper makes the decision obvious. And if it doesn't make the decision obvious, at least you'll have clarity on why you're choosing what you're choosing. All right, the next letter is I. Involve the right people. Not everyone, the right people. This is critical. Listen to me. Here's the mistake most leaders make. They either don't involve anyone, they just lone wolf the decision in their office like some kind of leadership hermit, or they involve literally everyone and turn it into a committee decision that takes three months, makes nobody happy, and results in some weird compromise where you paint half the office blue and half the office green because nobody could agree, and now it just looks confused. Neither works. Okay. So instead, ask yourself these three questions. One, who has information that I don't have? Two, who will be directly affected by this decision? And three, who has to actually execute it? Those are the people you involve. That's it. That's the list. Don't overthink it. Don't invite people just because they'll feel left out if you don't. Don't include your boss's boss's boss who has zero context and would just derail everything or questions about the strategic implications for the next fiscal year. So here's your example. You're deciding whether to change your team's work schedule. Who should you involve? Well, the people on your team who will actually have to live with the new schedule. Makes sense, right? They're the ones showing up at the new time. Maybe your HR partner who understands the policy implications and can tell you if your brilliant idea is actually illegal in three states. Maybe another leader who's done something similar and can warn you about the landmines you're about to step. Who should you not involve? Your boss's boss who has zero context and would just ask a bunch of questions that derail everything. The finance team who won't be affected and would just complain about something completely unrelated to the actual decision. Random stakeholders who just want to feel important and will turn your 30-minute meeting into a two-hour philosophical debate about the meaning of work. Keep the circle small. Involve the right people. Get their input. Actually listen to it. Take notes if you need to. And then, and this is critical, make the decision yourself. Don't try to delegate the decision to the group. Okay? Don't wait for consensus where everyone agrees and sings kumbaya. Get input, but own the call. Because here's what happens when you try to make decisions by committee. You end up with the worst of both worlds. Nobody's happy because it's a watered-down compromise. Nobody feels ownership because it wasn't really their decision. And you've still got to own the outcome anyway because, well, you're the leader. So involve the right people. Then move to the final step. And that's the letter T. Take action and own the outcome. This is where most leaders completely fall apart. They do all the work. Okay, they gather the information, they reflect on priorities, they involve the right people, and they, you know, make really nice notes in their notebook with color-coded highlighters, and then they still don't actually decide. They say things like, let me think about it a little more, or let's revisit this next week. Or my personal favorite, I just want to sleep on it. You've already slept on it for three weeks, my friend. How much sleep do you need? Are you going into hibernation? Should we check on you in the spring? And the decision never gets made. It just lives in this weird purgatory where everyone's waiting and nothing's moving. Your team is wondering if you're okay. Here's what you need to understand. At some point, you've done enough. You've gathered the right information. You've reflected on the priorities. You've involved the right people. You've thought about it. You've slept on it. You've stress-eaten about it. You've run it by your spouse who told you, I don't know, honey, it's your job. Now you've got to decide. Not perfectly, not with complete certainty, not with a guarantee that it's going to work out exactly how you hoped, and everyone will love you, and there will be a parade in your honor. But wisely, based on the information you actually have right now. So make the call. Communicate it clearly. Explain your reasoning if that's helpful. And then own the outcome. Here's what owning the outcome actually means in practice. If it works out, give credit to the people who helped you make the decision. Thank the team members who gave you input. Acknowledge the team, acknowledge the people who have to execute it. Make them look good. That's what good leaders do. If it doesn't work out, own it. Full stop. Don't blame the information. Well, the data was incomplete. Yeah, it always is. That's leadership. Don't blame the people you consulted. Well, this is what the team suggested. Nope. You made the call. It's on you. And don't suddenly develop amnesia about who made the decision. I'm not sure how we ended up here. You decided. That's how. You made the call. You own it. Period. Here's the beautiful thing, and I mean this. When you own your decisions, good or bad, people will trust you more. Not less, more. Because they know you're not going, you know, going to throw them under the bus when things go wrong. They know you're not going to suddenly point fingers and assign blame like you were just an innocent bystander to your own decisions. They know you're a leader who makes calls, learns from them, and moves forward. And that's the kind of leader people actually want to follow. Not the person who never makes mistakes, the person who owns their mistakes when they make now. Believe it or not, I know what some of you are thinking. Colby, this is great. Really love it. But I don't have time to go through a four-step framework every single time I need to make a decision. I make like 47 decisions before lunch. I'd never get anything done. Fair point. Valid concern. I hear you. Here's the reality: not every decision needs this level of process. If you're deciding what to order for the team lunch, just pick something. Don't gather information, reflect on values, and involve stakeholders in a conference call about whether we should get pizza or sandwiches. It's lunch. Make a call and move on. If someone doesn't like it, they can pack tomorrow. They'll survive. And if you're deciding what color pen to use on your whiteboard, you don't need grit. Just grab one. Any color, literally. It's fine. But for the big decisions, the ones that affect your team, your strategy, your budget, your culture, your reputation, whether you can sleep at night, you need a process. Because those are the decisions that define your leadership. Those are the decisions people remember. Those are the decisions that either build or destroy trust. And if you're making those on gut instinct alone with no framework whatsoever, basically playing leadership roulette. Spin the wheel and see what happens. Sometimes you win, often you don't, but always stressful. So here's my rule of thumb if the decision is easily reversible and low stakes, make it fast. Can you change your mind later without major consequences? Fast decision. Go. Will changing your mind later create chaos? Cost money, or destroy credibility, or make you look like you have no idea what you're doing? Framework decision. Use grit. And over time, this becomes second nature. You don't have to consciously think through grit step by step every time you're following a recipe. You just naturally gather the right information, reflect on what matters, involve the right people, and make the call. Your brain starts doing it automatically. It's muscle memory for decision making. But until then, use the framework. Write it down, stick it on your wall, make it your phone background, whatever works. Walk through it, make it a habit. Because good leaders don't wait for perfect clarity. They have a process for making wise decisions with whatever information they actually have. Okay. So here's what I need you to remember. Making decisions is one of the most important things you do as a leader, maybe the most important thing. And if you're going to face decisions where there's no perfect answer, well, where you don't have all the information, where both options have downsides and someone's going to be happy, unhappy no matter what you choose, okay, don't freeze. Don't guess. Use a framework. Grit. Gather the right information. Reflect on your values and priorities. Involve the right people and take action and own the outcome. And yeah, you're still going to make some bad decisions. That's part of leadership. Welcome to the club. We meet on Tuesdays and there's no refreshments. But at least you'll have a process. You'll be able to explain why you made the call. You'll be able to learn from it when it doesn't work out. And you'll be able to move forward with confidence instead of just hoping you guessed right. You've got this. Before we wrap up, I want to remind you that hopefully starting April 2026, I'm planning to launch a second podcast episode each week, an interview series where I sit down with leaders to discuss the actionable tools they've learned throughout their careers. Now, if your organization is struggling with decision making, building strategic thinking, or develop leaders who can make confident calls without spiraling into analysis paralysis, I'd love to help. I work with organizations through keynote speaking, executive coaching, and leadership training to build people first cultures that get results. You connect with me on LinkedIn or visit my website, and both of those links are in the show notes. And hey, if this episode was helpful, please do me a favor, subscribe to the show wherever you listen to your podcast. And you know what? If you could, please leave me a review. Share it with another leader who's been staring at a decision for two weeks and really just needs to make the call already. And remember, keep gathering the right information, keep making the call, and keep owning the outcome. And you know why? Because those are the things that leaders do.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you for listening to Things Leaders Do. If you're looking for more tips on how to be a better leader, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and listen to next week's episode. Until next time, keep working on being a better leader by doing the things that leaders do.