- Engineering Echelons
- Posts
- How to speed up decision-making
How to speed up decision-making
Engineering Echelons
Collin P. Wheeler
March 14, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
Hey, it’s Collin. Welcome to Engineering Echelons, a newsletter full of ideas and insights to help engineers excel at management.
Here’s what I’ve got for you this week.
New and noteworthy news
Something to consider
Some insights to delve into
And more…
First time reading? You can subscribe here.
Alright, let’s get into it.
Noteworthy Headlines
Risk Barometer (Allianz)
Highlights:
Supply chain disruptions remain the second highest perceived business risk for all industries in 2025.
Specifically for engineering and construction industries, supply chain disruptions top the list for perceived business risks in 2025.
U.S. has canceled 1 in 10 federal leases (CoStar)
Highlights:
Lease terminations cover all 50 states.
Around 700 building lease terminations have been announced
February had big jump in construction employment (BLS)
Highlights:
The vast majority of employment gains were in the residential construction sector.
Partner Message
Life’s too unpredictable for clothes that can’t keep up. Rowdee designs apparel for men who do it all: sweat-proof, wrinkle-resistant, and made to move. The Shindig Shirt ™ looks great in the office and performs just as well outdoors, so you’re ready for anything from a meeting to a midday pickleball match.
With Rowdee, you’re dressed for whatever comes next.
I’ve partnered with Rowdee to give you 15% off your first order with promo code: ECHELONS15
*Partners may compensate Engineering Echelons and/or its contributor(s) for sharing their message(s).
Management Perspective
When it comes to making decisions, tons of factors come into play. What are your options? How much time do you have? What are the consequences? What are the consequences of the consequences?
As the leader, you can be a major bottleneck in the speed decisions are made.
There is a way to fix that bottleneck and it hinges on one question: is the decision reversible?
Jeff Bezos outlined a decision-making framework in the 2015 Amazon shareholder letter where leaders keep irreversible decisions and delegate reversible decisions.
Some decisions are consequential and irreversible or nearly irreversible—one-way doors—and these decisions must be made methodically, carefully, slowly, with great deliberation and consultation. If you walk through and don’t like what you see on the other side, you can’t get back to where you were before. We can call these Type 1 decisions. But most decisions aren’t like that—they are changeable, reversible—they’re two way doors. If you’ve made a supoptimal Type 2 decision, you don’t have to live with the consequences for that long. You can reopen the door and go back through. Type 2 decisions can and should be made quickly by high judgment individuals or small groups.
Using this as a framework for aiding decision-making is highly effective. By identifying one-way and two-way door decisions, you are eliminating a one-size-fits-all model while keeping things simple and pragmatic.
Moreover, by using this model you are delegating more decisions to your team, signaling your trust in their judgment.
Want to explore this decision-making framework further? You can read more here.
Management Insights
Bob Iger on discernment:
“Sometimes, even though you’re “in charge,” you need to be aware that in the moment you might have nothing to add, and so you don’t wade in. You trust your people do their jobs and focus your energies on some other pressing issue.”
—
Jocko Willink on ego:
“Ego clouds and disrupts everything: the planning process, the ability to take good advice, and the ability to accept constructive criticism. It can even stifle someone’s sense of self-preservation. Often, the most difficult ego to deal with is your own.”
—
Mike Duncan on revolution:
“Like many popular revolutions in history, the men who unlock the door are not always the same men who come bursting through.”
Management Resource
Return to Office: Focus on Practice, not Policy (McKinsey)
Return to office is a hot topic around the country. This resource provides a framework for leaders when addressing staff being in office versus working remotely.
Get in Touch
Did something strike a chord? Tell me about it.
Or…
Let me know if you’ve found something worth sharing.
Let me know what challenges you’re having as a manager.
Let me know what challenges you see other managers having.
Send me an email at [email protected]
Looking forward to hearing from you. See you next time.
Collin
Partners
