We would rather suffer the visible costs of a few bad decisions than incur the many invisible costs that come from decisions made too slowly – or not at all – because of a stifling bureaucracy.
—
Warren Buffett excerpted in “Startup lessons learned from Warren Buffett” [thx Derick]
Warren Buffett excerpted in “Startup lessons learned from Warren Buffett” [thx Derick]
Robert
on 15 Apr 10That’s a really interesting point. You look at this quote and it seems like common sense, but it’s really quite profound.
Being paralyzed because of the fear of making a wrong decision is probably always worse than making a wrong decision, finding out it’s wrong, learning from your mistakes, and moving on.
Of course, making quick decisions probably leads to mistakes, which means you probably are good at learning from them by now :P
I love these quotes you guys put up, sometimes they make me re-think the way I do work. Thanks.
Amber Shah
on 15 Apr 10This quote reminds me of another quote by Tim from Project Runway:
“I have this refrain about the monkey house at the zoo. When you first enter into the monkey house at the zoo, you think, ‘Oh my G-d this place stinks!’ And then after you’re there for 20 minutes you think, ‘it’s not so bad’ and after you’re there for an hour it doesn’t smell at all. And anyone entering the monkey house freshly thinks, ‘this stinks!’ you’ve been living in the monkey house.”
Living in a bureaucracy is like living in the monkey house. When you’re there, and you’ve been there for a long time, you don’t think there is anything wrong, and can’t even imagine anything different. But the first time you step into a bureaucracy from a startup, a well-run business or school, whoa does it hit you like some serious stink.
nappisite
on 15 Apr 10Just as stifling can be the decisions that are made, un-made, and made again in quick succession. Making a decision, changing your mind, then changing it back again, ad infinitum is worse. So in addition to making decisions quicker, you also need to have the courage to follow through.
Chad
on 15 Apr 10I love the way Buffett keeps it so straight. It’s the same old lesson in very few words: It’s better to do something and make mistakes than do nothing at all. And if you can’t act/change quickly, you will die.
Roy Waterhouse
on 15 Apr 10Excellent post. No money no future. It is amazing that so many people miss that point. If a service is worth having there should be some way to monetize the service.
Tathagata
on 16 Apr 10Just watched a talk by Geoffery Moore in the Business of Software conference, and he also mentioned the same thing. In programming we know it as failing early. It works in every sphere of life.
Actually, the takeaway is that we must learn, and learn fast. Although, we can be fooled into thinking that we can envision and design things in our mind, we often can’t (unless you are Stephen Hawking). And unless you stop deliberating and do something you never learn.
wpshore
on 18 Apr 10Implicit in Buffet’s statement is support for his own people, and this seems critical to me. He makes sure he has good people, he makes sure his companies are functional (anything else is just corporate rot and corruption) and he trusts them.. In my work life that experience of support and trust is incredibly rare and, when found, makes me almost kill myself for my company in pure gratitude.
This discussion is closed.