Decision-Making: How to Increase Your Speed to Informed

Every leader faces the same challenge: making the right decision at the right time with the right information. But in fast-moving environments, hesitation is costly, and acting too soon can be just as dangerous as waiting too long.

Some leaders believe that speed alone is a competitive advantage, pushing decisions forward without enough data. Others fall into the trap of overanalyzing, waiting until they have near-perfect information, only to find they’ve missed their window of opportunity.

The truth lies in between. The best leaders don’t just make fast decisions; they develop the skill of informed speed—getting the right information quickly enough to act decisively without unnecessary risk.

This ability to acclimate rapidly, to process data, recognize patterns, and determine what truly matters, is what separates great leaders from those who get stuck in indecision.

In this article, we’ll break down how you can increase your Speed to Informed.

The Elements of Decision-Making

I believe there are four elements in decision-making, and while I want to call them “stages” they sometimes happen concurrently, so that doesn’t work.

So let’s call them elements. They are:

Acclimation is our ability to process everything around us and to become accustomed to our new conditions.

Collaboration is all about getting insights from others and embracing opinions.

Articulation is the ability to clearly communicate decisions, rationale, and intended outcomes to both yourself and others.

Delegation focuses on finding the "who" not delivering the "how." It means identifying who on your team is best suited to handle a particular task, rather than trying to do everything yourself.

This article primarily focuses on Acclimation and how to increase our Speed to Informed. Let me know if you want to see more on the others.

What is Acclimation?

Acclimation is our ability to process everything around us and to become accustomed to our new conditions.

It’s important to differentiate this from normal acclimation. We’re not trying to acclimate so we can get comfortable. We’re trying to acclimate so we can take in the world around our current situation.

We need the details if we want to make a smart decision, and we need them fast.

This is called the Speed to Informed.

Our goal is rapid familiarization. We often have plenty of time to take in information before making a decision, but we don’t always have that luxury. Therefore, the better we can get at quickly understanding our environment and what variables we need to manage, the more time we have to consider options instead of collecting data.

The Speed to Informed is primarily how quickly we can get the required information. We don’t just want any information. We want what’s necessary to be able to make the decision.

This can take reps. The more frequently you need to make certain decisions, the more likely you are to look for the right information. This is because humans are tuned for pattern matching (more on this in a bit).

We can also improve our Speed to Informed by asking the right questions when seeking information. You can see some of the questions I recommend at the end of this section.

Acclimation Skills

The DIKW Pyramid

The DIKW Pyramid stands for Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom. You can see them structured on the graphic below.

The reason we want to track inputs this way is that it’s important to note what level of information is coming to us. And yes, I’m going to use some words interchangeably because this can really confusing to explore.

Data are individual inputs. These are facts and figures that we can consolidate to turn into more valuable information.

When we apply context to data, we get information. Information allows us to look at multiple data points and see the line on the chart.

From there, we can apply meaning to create knowledge. Knowledge tells us what that line means. Is up and to the right good or bad?

Finally, when we apply insight to our Knowledge, normally through the experience of working with that knowledge multiple times, we develop wisdom. As the saying goes, “Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.”

In a simple example:

Data - These are the ingredients like flour, sugar, eggs.

Information - The list of ingredients and amounts for the cookie recipe.

Knowledge - Understanding how the ingredients come together through mixing, baking, etc. Knowing how to actually make cookies.

Wisdom - Knowing when the cookies are baked just right based on smell, look, etc. Experience lets you bake amazing cookies.

No matter how experienced you get, it’s important to start by identifying the data. Experience allows you to make decisions faster because you're able to lean into the wisdom acquired (more on pattern matching shortly), but if you don't pay attention to the details, you risk making poor decisions.

You need to get good at seeing the data and quickly applying context so it becomes something workable. Then, continue working it up the DIKW Pyramid.

The 40-70 Rule

Colin Powell was an amazing man. As an Army General and US Secretary of State, he had to make many decisions, and most were incredibly consequential.

While he had many great quotes and advice for decision-making, one has always stood out to me. It's called the 40-70 Rule.

This rule states that no decision should be made with less than 40% of the required information to make a sound decision. Any less than that and the leader is shooting from the hip.

Also, if a leader waits to have more than 70% before making a decision, they've likely spent too much time deliberating, robbing their team of time to prepare and execute.

Many leaders I've worked with have believed making decisions fast is a competitive advantage. And it is, but only if you're making sound decisions. Operating with less than 40% of the information is like shooting in the dark.

Another saying I've picked up in the Army is “speed is security.” But just like with decision-making, speed only helps if you're taking the right steps.

The Army Special Operators who use that saying have the training to move fast. And “speed” isn't an excuse for taking absurd risks. Rather, it's a tool. Speed is an asset to deploy when necessary.

This is why we want to increase our Speed to Informed. The faster we can get to that 40%, the faster we can make a decision. And the faster we make a decision, the faster we start learning.

Now, I've also worked with a few leaders who were incredibly timid when making decisions. There was so much fear they'd wait until the last possible minute to make a decision.

This creates multiple issues, but the largest is that you’re forced into reactivity. And reactive businesses rarely survive.

When you wait too long to make a decision, you may have more information, but you have less time to act on it. The rest of your decision-making process is rushed. Your team has less time to prepare. Even your execution will be rushed.

By making a decision at 40%, you have enough information to get yourself in the right direction. If you wait until 70%, you might miss the train and have to walk.

The hardest part of the 40-70 Rule is knowing when you're in that window. The unfortunate truth is that you'll never actually know. With experience, you'll keep getting better. But in the meantime, make your best judgment.

Pattern Matching

What makes certain people experts isn’t the number of years on the job or the amount of training they’ve had, it’s their ability to spot patterns.

The faster you get at pattern matching, the faster you can apply meaning to information and insights to knowledge. This gives you a massive leg up in the realm of decision-making.

Unfortunately, there’s no quick trick for learning to uncover patterns faster. It requires a lot of effort to become a master of a craft (10,000 hours according to some). The good news, however, is that you don’t need to be an expert to start seeing patterns.

In the Army, I had a First Sergeant that was bursting with wisdom, even if he didn’t fully realize it.

One of my favorite sayings of his was about learning. He was convinced learning lessons and acquiring skills from those lessons came down to two things:

“Blunt force trauma or repetition.”

Either you’re hit with a problem so painful you’ll never want to relive it, or you’ll be annoyed so frequently that eventually, you’ll figure it out.

Both of these are ways to start recognizing patterns. Through blunt force trauma, you become painfully aware of the potential for a pattern. It causes you to rapidly reflect on a situation and see each step that led to a specific result.

Since you only have one data point, it’s important to not form a bias, believing that all situations will go the same way. Instead, the “blunt force trauma” side of this equation is a way to bring more to your attention so it’s easier to point out potential patterns.

Repetition leads to the traditional sense of pattern matching, because that’s how expertise is developed. Through deliberate attention to the patterns in a given field. It’s how musicians learn every combination of notes they can play in each key. It’s how the plumber knows what pipe to tap on.

When I lived in Alaska, I met a man who was skilled at animal tracking. He could look at prints and give you so many details about the animal, it was as though he’d watched it make the prints in real-time.

He could tell the animal’s age, its weight, and whether it had been injured. He’d seen so many prints, that he knew what patterns he was looking at, so he understood the story.

And that is the critical theme here:

Patterns help us forecast the story.

Knowing how to read patterns let's you quickly apply context to the data, and meaning to the information. It expedites your Speed to Informed.

A lot of people bounce between jobs these days, chasing benefits or prestige. It’s rare to find someone who picked a discipline and is sticking with it long term. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does make it difficult to get incredible at spotting patterns within that area of expertise.

Those who commit themselves to mastery their profession are putting themselves in a better position to be able to make sound decisions faster because of their potential level of expertise.

Where to Collect Data

As you’ve seen with the DIKW Pyramid, we need data so we can eventually acquire wisdom. So this begs the question, “Where do we find the data?”

These are the areas you should look first and set up data sources to make your decision-making easier. Use the ones that are pertinent to your situation.

Customer Data

Collecting customer data should be a priority for business owners to directly inform decisions. Sources of customer data include surveys, reviews, support tickets, and most importantly, sales and interaction history.

Mine your CRM system, email or chat records, point-of-sale system, and web analytics for insights. Analyze which products customers purchase, which onboarding paths lead to retention, what issues drive support contacts, and what feedback comes from surveys.

Use this data to decide which new products to develop, how to price offerings, which customers to target, and how to improve marketing and onboarding processes for the best return. For example, seeing customers repeatedly purchase a certain product may drive adding related products.

Market Data

Understanding wider market trends, demands, and what competitors offer allows smart positioning. Research market reports from industry analysts to spot growth areas. Monitor competitor websites and product announcements to see their focus and messaging.

Use Google Trends to trace search volumes around keywords and topics in your space, which can reveal rising opportunities. Social media listening displays potential viral conversation threads to ride.

This market insight assists decisions around which segments to pursue, what offerings to highlight or develop, how to differentiate, and optimal channels to distribute through at any given time. For instance, jumping on a fast uptick in a related search term with some content marketing.

Financial Data

Of course, historical and ongoing revenue, cost, profitability and cash flow figures provide critical context for many operating decisions.

Review sales reports by product line, customer segment, geography to spot patterns and anomalies. Make forecasts based on seasonal trends. Know gross margins by channel or offering to guide pricing flexibility, supplier decisions, and promotional investments.

Use cash conversion cycle metrics to manage accounts receivable and stock levels. Financial analysis assists decisions around business expansion plans, expense control, capital investments, and focus areas to drive profit. For example, cutting underperforming product lines or doubling down where momentum lies.

Employee Data

Tap into employee data to guide decisions around company culture, retention, and productivity. Useful inputs include engagement or satisfaction survey results, turnover and retention rates, exit interview feedback, performance metrics, and training program efficacy.

Platforms like Officevibe, CultureAmp, and TinyPulse facilitate confidential employee surveys. Review which departments or roles see the most turnover. Track productivity metrics for sales teams or individuals.

This assists decisions around changes to company policies, manager training, employee growth opportunities, workspace design and tools, and compensation or benefits changes to retain top talent.

Operations Data

Understanding operational efficiency and constraints allows smarter resource allocation calls. Capture data on production numbers, quality control, supply chain status, inventory levels, and fulfillment metrics like shipping times or returns.

Evaluate distribution center capacity. This guides decisions to address bottlenecks, like adding staff or technology investments. It also assists vendor selection around pricing, reliability and flexibility.

Reviewing operations data would inform plans around entering new markets or launching major marketing campaigns that could spike order volumes.

Macroeconomic Data

Keep a close eye on key economic indicators to account for external factors in planning. Track GDP growth, unemployment, inflation, consumer confidence index and interest rates. See where the indicators lie compared to historic trends and economist projections.

This economic context sets expectations for customer demand shifts, thus guiding adjustments to hiring plans, inventory orders, capital investments for growth, new market prioritization and contingency fund savings rates.

For example, inflation spikes may incent reducing production costs or pushing through consumer price increases. Meanwhile, an uptick in consumer confidence may support expanding product lines.

Critical Questions to Ask Yourself

With data sources in hand, it’s important to have your go-to questions that can guide your decision-making kick-off.

Knowing what information and knowledge you’ll need to make a decision is what guides your research stage. The quicker you can identify what information to collect, the faster your Speed to Informed.

Here are questions to get started, but it’s best if you come up with the ones that are most specific to your situation and needs.

• What don’t I know?

• What is the core issue or opportunity?

• What are the key facts and figures?

• Who are the main stakeholders?

• Are there any immediate risks or constraints?

• What data is missing or needed to quantify this issue/opportunity?

• How does this align with our current business objectives and priorities?

• What current strengths or assets can we leverage?

• What external factors or market conditions should we account for?

• Does this impact our operations? If so, how? Supply chain? Hiring plans?

• What are the financial implications (cost, investment required, payback period, ROIC)?

• Does this introduce any new compliance, legal or regulatory considerations?

• What unintended consequences could this decision cause? What are we overlooking?

• If the decision fails or conditions change, is the impact containable?

Who Can Provide Insights (Phasal Overlap)

Even having all of the data sources in the world, and knowing what questions you should ask to frame your research, you’re not going to be in the ideal place to make decisions.

Why? Because you don’t have the time to consolidate all the information, nor the extensive expertise to quickly understand everything. You’re human.

We’ll get into how you can lean on others to discern critical information and find the right patterns in the Collaboration phase, but before getting there, you should have an idea of who you’re going to go to.

It’s important because you want to give these people time to start collecting information as well. You collecting information yourself equals 1. Every person who’s also collecting information multiplies that.

The multiple depends on how much expertise that individual has. A junior-level marketer isn’t going to be as fast at collecting and distilling information as a battle-hardened CMO. They don’t have the reps in.

Acclimation and Collaboration overlap, but as early as possible, you should provide guidance to your team to direct them in their data collection. This now bleeds into the Articulation phase. You need to clearly articulate the problem so that people understand what they’re trying to solve. This will help them sort through pertinent information.

You’ll also use skills from Delegation to assign responsibilities so a single person is in charge of collecting information and you’re not adding wasted redundancy in the search.

This section isn’t meant to overwhelm you, but to show you how every phase of the process overlaps and depends on each other.

How to Track Your Speed to Informed

You’re going to need to run After Action Reviews (AARs) after every decision to know if you’re improving your decision-making abilities.

As part of the AAR, you should review how fast you were able to make it from problem onset to having enough information to start making your decision. The Speed to Informed is the most important metric to track in the Acclimation phase.

What makes it challenging to measure is that hitting 40% of the required information is subjective. You’ll have to set a personal understanding of what that looks like and then maintain it.

Additionally, your Speed to Informed can change based on the size of the decision you’re making. It’s helpful to bucket your decision types into a categorization that fits your needs. Small, Medium, Large. Inconsequential, Moderate, Catastrophic. Your choice, but you need a way to track them.

Advancing to Collaboration

It’s important to recognize that the Acclimation stage doesn’t actually have an end. You’ll continue collecting information for as long as possible. Why? Because you’d be stupid not to.

If a critical piece of information comes up even after you’ve made your decision that would change everything, you should consider changing it if possible. Especially if there are dire consequences.

40% is necessary to make your decision, but in most situations, you have a lot more time. Ideally, you’re proactive and have plenty of time for decisions. In these situations, you’re going to hit 40%, start deciding, while continuing to collect information.

Don’t even stop collecting data, information, knowledge, and wisdom.

Next Steps

Making better decisions isn’t about moving faster. It’s about reaching the right level of informed speed.

The best leaders don’t wait until they have all the information, nor do they make blind guesses. They train themselves to reach the 40-70% window quickly, apply pattern recognition, and trust their judgment.

Now it’s your turn.

Start by refining your Speed to Informed: improve how you collect data, sharpen your ability to spot key insights, and practice making decisions with confidence.

Want to take it further? Join the Dynamic Agency Community to connect with other leaders, share insights, and refine your decision-making skills alongside those who are mastering the same craft. Better decisions start here.