A few high-quality decisions a day
Aim for three well-made decisions rather than a hundred rushed ones
The idea is that a senior person earns their pay on the quality of a small number of decisions, not the volume of them. Work from that and you organize the day to protect judgment. Enough sleep. No crowding of the calendar. A willingness to say that three good calls is a full day. A companion thought is that the decisions that matter are about things two or three years out, so there is rarely a reason to grind through a hundred small ones today. Warren Buffett's line about being happy with three good decisions a year is the usual reference point.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Jeff BezosDoes it
Amazon and Blue Origin founder · Six-page memos and eight hours of sleep
Says a senior executive is paid to make a small number of high-quality decisions, and that three good ones a day is enough. He cites Warren Buffett, who is happy with three a year, and points out that the important decisions are about things two or three years away.
Source: Economic Club of Washington, D.C.: Jeff Bezos in conversation with David Rubenstein, 2018 (transcript)
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