Hats, Haircuts and Tattoos — three types of decisions

And exciting book launch news!

I have some exciting news to share about my upcoming book!
But first, an excerpt from one of the chapters:

Reduce analysis paralysis with reversible decisions

When should we act fast and take informed risks, and when should we act more slowly and deliberately? It helps to distinguish between reversible and irreversible decisions.

To put this idea into practice, James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, suggests categorizing decisions as: hats, haircuts or tattoos. He argues that most decisions are like hats. You can try one, and if you don’t like it, you put it back and try another. Since the cost of a mistake is low, you can decide quickly and try many of them.

Some decisions are more like haircuts. If you get a bad one, you can’t fix it immediately, and you might feel embarrassed for a while. But after a few months, it grows out, and nobody will notice it anymore. You won’t be stuck for long with your choice, so there’s no point in spending hours or even days searching for the best option.

However, a few decisions are like tattoos. Once you make them, you have to live with them. Even years later, you’ll be reminded of the choice you made. When facing an irreversible decision, move slowly and think carefully. (Of course, strictly speaking, tattoos can be removed, but it won’t be easy or come cheap.)

A proportionate amount of effort

Few decisions are ever fully reversible or irreversible; it’s a spectrum. If a decision is cheap and easy to undo, spend minimal time and resources deciding whether to do it. If it’s costly and difficult to undo, be more careful.

If the cost of doing the wrong thing is high, and the time spent on deciding is worthwhile, then put in the effort to try to make the best choice. Slow down the decision-making process, conducting the necessary research to explore possible scenarios, quantify risks, and reduce uncertainty. Then, think deeply and decide carefully.

But even if a decision is irreversible, consider the negative consequences of doing it wrong. If those are acceptable, you can still make the decision quickly.

After making a decision, set a reminder to check the outcome at a future date. Use any learnings from this to correct your course. 

To accelerate decision-making, we should become comfortable with making decisions with incomplete information. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos said:

“Most decisions should probably be made with around 70% of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90%, in most cases, you’re probably being slow.”

Unboxing the first book

After following track & trace all day, the moment was finally there to see the first print proof copies of my new book. I like ebooks, but seeing it with ink on paper is something different. Here’s the video from the moment (by co-founder Nelia Booden).

Will you join us at the book launch?

My new book will be available starting in October. Please join us to celebrate it live on October 10th, 16:00-17:00 CET.

What will be covered:

• Insights & inspiration about the contents of the book

• Learn about the innovative way the book was developed

• Live Q&A

• Special offer and giveaway for attendees

“Brilliant… the book provides leaders with a practical tool kit to help Unblock the challenges that hold most teams back.”
— Nick Andrews, Senior Director of Organizational Development, Expedia