There is a corporate motto: “10% of decisions need to be right. 90% of decisions just need to be taken!” which resonates perfectly with this post.
To put this in an EA context—if you’re unsure which of two initiatives to work on, that probably means that (to the best of your available knowledge) they are likely to have similar impacts. So, in the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn’t matter which you choose. But the time you spend deciding is time that you are NOT dedicating to either of the initiatives.
However, this is a good rule-of-thumb, but you need to be wary of exceptions. There are those 10% of cases where your decision matters a lot. In my case, as a chemical engineer, decisions about safety would typically be in that 10%. In an EA context, maybe it’s decisions where you really are not sure if a particular initiative might be doing more harm than good which fall into this 10%.
How to decide whether you can already take a decision?
Does any decision have potentially very bad consequences? Not just wasted time, but actual harm, or major investments wasted or whatever.
How much of a difference is there likely to be depending on which decision you take?
What new information are you likely to get (and when) which could help you make a better decision?
Put the pros and cons on a sheet of paper and discuss with a friend or colleague. Often times, this exercise alone, even before you discuss, will enable you to make a decision.
There is a corporate motto: “10% of decisions need to be right. 90% of decisions just need to be taken!” which resonates perfectly with this post.
To put this in an EA context—if you’re unsure which of two initiatives to work on, that probably means that (to the best of your available knowledge) they are likely to have similar impacts. So, in the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn’t matter which you choose. But the time you spend deciding is time that you are NOT dedicating to either of the initiatives.
However, this is a good rule-of-thumb, but you need to be wary of exceptions. There are those 10% of cases where your decision matters a lot. In my case, as a chemical engineer, decisions about safety would typically be in that 10%. In an EA context, maybe it’s decisions where you really are not sure if a particular initiative might be doing more harm than good which fall into this 10%.
How to decide whether you can already take a decision?
Does any decision have potentially very bad consequences? Not just wasted time, but actual harm, or major investments wasted or whatever.
How much of a difference is there likely to be depending on which decision you take?
What new information are you likely to get (and when) which could help you make a better decision?
Put the pros and cons on a sheet of paper and discuss with a friend or colleague. Often times, this exercise alone, even before you discuss, will enable you to make a decision.