Question
Why does two-way door decisions fail?
Quick Answer
Intellectually agreeing that most decisions are reversible while continuing to deliberate on every one of them. The framework becomes another thing you know about instead of something that changes your behavior. You'll catch yourself when you notice the third meeting about a decision that could be.
The most common reason two-way door decisions fails: Intellectually agreeing that most decisions are reversible while continuing to deliberate on every one of them. The framework becomes another thing you know about instead of something that changes your behavior. You'll catch yourself when you notice the third meeting about a decision that could be undone with a Slack message.
The fix: List your five most recent decisions that took more than a day to make. For each one, answer: if this decision turns out badly, can I reverse it within a week at low cost? Mark each as a one-way door or a two-way door. Count how many two-way doors consumed disproportionate deliberation time. For each of those, write what you would do differently — the specific point where you would have stopped analyzing and walked through.
The underlying principle is straightforward: One-way doors deserve careful analysis — two-way doors should be walked through quickly.
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