Many decisions growth marketers make on a daily basis include an element of uncertainty. When faced with such decisions, the question becomes, should you make the decision quickly on your own, or should you take your time and involve others?
One-way v two-way door decisions
When it comes to decision making Jeff Bezos uses the analogy of one-way door and two-way door decisions, which he explained in his 2016 letter to shareholders as below:
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A simple decision-making framework
Most marketing decisions are two-way door (type 2 decisions) - we are rarely making irreversible decisions in the same way that may exist for building architecture design, data storage solutions and M&A teams.
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One-way door / Type 1 decisions: Hard to reverse, Lasting effects, Slow down and consider, Significant & important, Heavy-weight decisions, Teams
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Two-way door / Type 2 decisions: Easy to reverse, Short-lived, Execute decision quickly, Less impactful, Lightweight decisions, Single individuals
The vast majority of your work as a growth professional - new tools, processes, UI and UX changes, ads, content and creative decisions - are almost certainly two-way door decisions and should be made quickly.
Takeaways for Growth Marketers
Two-way doors provide opportunities to experiment, learn and iterate at speed. Growth teams must embrace this agility and avoid deliberating on such decisions.
A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week. General George Patton
Through experimentation - by starting small, iterating, improving and expanding over time - decisions become more flexible and reversible, turning one-way doors into two-way doors.
For more information read Reversible and Irreversible Decisions on the Farnam Street blog.