Problem Solvers Should Leaders Make Slower Decisions?
Jan 19, 2026
Margaret Andrews, a Harvard instructor and author specializing in leadership development, joins to challenge the belief that quick decisions make great leaders. She discusses how rushing can lead to poor outcomes and wasted resources. Exploring the importance of self-management, she shares a framework for effective decision-making, including seven critical questions to consider. Margaret also emphasizes the value of deliberation over speed, advocating for thoughtful approaches like pros/cons lists to refine choices and anticipate potential pitfalls.
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Engineer Turned Leader After Hitting A Wall
- An engineer in Margaret's Harvard class realized his technical skill couldn't compensate for poor people skills.
- After applying self-management lessons, he earned three promotions in four years.
Efficiency Can Mask Ineffective Decisions
- Efficient meetings or decisions often skip core issues and force repeated revisits.
- Slower, more thorough processes prevent wasted time undoing poor quick decisions.
The Single-Answer Trap
- Most workplace problems lack a single correct answer, but we treat them as if they do.
- That schooling bias creates fear and paralysis when leaders face ambiguous choices.
