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In the realm of business and life, decisions are ubiquitous—some inconsequential, others monumental. Jeff Bezos, the visionary founder of Amazon, offers invaluable insights into the art of decision-making, distinguishing between two distinct types of choices: two-way doors and one-way doors.
Imagine standing at a corridor lined with doors, each representing a decision waiting to be made. Two-way doors, as Bezos describes them, are choices with reversible consequences. They offer the freedom to step through, explore, and, if necessary, retreat back to the starting point. In Bezos' view, these decisions should be decentralized, entrusted to individuals or small teams embedded within the organization. Such autonomy fosters agility and empowers frontline workers to innovate and experiment without fear of failure.
"Most decisions are two-way doors. If you make the wrong decision, if it's a two-way door decision, you walk out the door, you pick a door, you walk out and you spend a little time there, it turns out to be the wrong decision, you can come back in and pick another door. Some decisions are so consequential and so important and so hard to reverse that they really are one-way door decisions. "
Contrastingly, one-way door decisions are irreversible. Once taken, there is no turning back—they shape the course of action with far-reaching implications. Recognizing their gravity, Bezos advocates for a meticulous and deliberate approach. Senior executives, he contends, bear the responsibility of scrutinizing these decisions, employing rigorous analysis and foresight to ensure their soundness. Bezos himself assumed the role of the "chief slowdown officer," urging caution and thorough examination before proceeding.
"I often found myself in the position of being the chief slowdown officer because somebody would be bringing me a one-way door decision. And I would say, okay, I can think of three more ways to analyze that, so let's go do that because we are not going to be able to reverse this one easily. Maybe you can reverse it if it's going to be very costly and very time-consuming. "
Central to Bezos' philosophy is the notion of thoroughness. Whether faced with a two-way or one-way door decision, he emphasizes the importance of exhaustive deliberation. Every angle must be explored, every possibility considered. For one-way door choices, in particular, Bezos advocates for a heightened level of scrutiny, acknowledging the magnitude of their impact.
"Two-way door decisions should mostly be made by single individuals or by very small teams deep in the organization. And one-way door decisions are the ones that are the irreversible ones. Those are the ones that should be elevated up to the senior-most executives who should slow them down and make sure that the right thing is being done."
In essence, Bezos' approach to decision-making encapsulates a blend of autonomy and accountability, decentralization and centralization. It is a philosophy rooted in pragmatism and guided by the imperative of getting it right—from the everyday choices that shape the fabric of an organization to the pivotal decisions that define its destiny.
Listen to what he says: