A CEO once said to me in an explanation of his frustration with the performance of his leadership team, “I need people who have a bias for action.” It wasn’t that his team didn’t have the skills or functional expertise; it was their trepidation to make decisions and take action that he felt was holding the company back.
This CEO’s frustration is warranted, as McKinsey uncovered that “Faster decisions tend to be higher quality, suggesting that speed does not undercut the merit of a given decision. Rather, good decision-making practices tend to yield decisions that are both high quality and fast.” They go on to find that companies with a bias for action have better financial results than their slower peers, as they “make good decisions fast, execute them quickly, and see higher growth rates and/return from their decisions.”
In this article, we will review what a bias for action is, why CEO like the one mentioned above want a bias for action in their people, why it’s become a leadership principle in business, and a few examples of a bias for action.
A bias for action is when an individual's instinct is to take action and act on quick decision-making, and they are not one to shy away from change if they feel it is merited. They're willing to take risks, run tests, and embrace leading in a VUCA environment where they do not have all the information but understand that decisions must be made quickly. A bias for action is an opposite of a default bias, where individuals favor the status quo.
While jumping to conclusions and making rash decisions can have serious consequences, especially the higher up you are in a company, the alternative may be a far worse fate for an organization. More often than not, individuals can be paralyzed with a fear of failure and the repercussions of doing so; therefore, they believe the best course of action is no action. In addition, the challenges leaders face regarding resistance to change with employees can often feel like it is easier not to “rock the boat.”
However, suppose leaders wait to make decisions until they have all the information or are unwilling to innovate and go down an uncharted path. When this happens, it’s no surprise that innovation will falter, growth will stall, and opportunities will be missed. Despite the drawback a bias for action might have, the benefits outweigh the risks.
For these reasons, many senior executives and the companies they lead want and expect their current and future leaders to have a bias for action. They understand that the only way to remain competitive is to evolve, grow, and meet changing customer demands, and they need to try new things and progress as a business to do so. That’s why it is imperative that their future leaders are able to take calculated risks, think quickly, and see their decisions through to completion.
For example, Amazon is one business that embraces a bias for action and seeks it in its people. Here’s how they’ve embedded this into their leadership principles.
One of the core leadership principles at Amazon is a bias for action. They state, “Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk-taking.”
Given Amazon’s success in its ability to disrupt and innovate, it’s no surprise this is a core principle of the organization and a quality they seek in their people.
Dan Rose, who spent over 20 years alongside Founder Jeff Bezos, shared why a bias for action was a critical lesson he took away from his time at Amazon. He shared in a series of tweets, “One of the most important things I learned from Jeff Bezos was to develop a bias for action. He wasn't always right, but he was always ready to act (and he was right much more than wrong).”
In the final tweet in the thread, he shared some wisdom he’s gained, “Whenever there's doubt about whether to act or wait, I always err on the side of taking action. There has to be a good reason to wait; otherwise, I want to get moving. I'd rather fail trying than succeed by not acting. This has served me well in my career, and I thank Jeff for it.”
Given that organizations favor those with a bias for action, you may be asking yourself, how does this show up in the workplace? Here are five examples of how this characteristic shows up in individuals at work.
While it has been shown that the ability to make decisions quickly and act on them is a key factor in the success of individuals and organizations, if you don’t see yourself being someone with a bias for action, don’t fret, as you can gain this characteristic.
Sometimes all you need is confidence, practice, and experience; Niagara Institute can help you do that. Whether developing new competencies by attending a professional development program, working with a leadership coach to overcome your fears, or investing in a team decision-making program where you and your peers test and boost your decision-making skills, we have the solution to help anyone become someone with a bias for action.