Speed and depth as core values in ‘ways of working’ in-themselves seem mutually exclusive. Collating and considering ‘all the facts’ required for making a decision takes time and also depends on the experiences and values of the decision makers and their stakeholders. Facts required for decision making increase with experience for practicioners and the pace of internal deliberations on the right thing to do with consensus building may be perceived as slow / tedious / non-responsive and unproductive by leaders who value speed over accuracy and success over perfection. Conversely, a pattern of quick decisions followed by multiple ‘fixes’ to calibrate systems to reality may be perceived as hasty and a lack of depth by leaders preferring to value comprehensive thought processes. Leaders emphasizing depth and speed respectively may have diverging views of intent and competency due to their different perceptions.
The effect of depth and speed for decision making may be compared to setting the right focus and zoom to capture a sharp image.
Whereas a photograph taken in haste, missing stillness and in the frenzy of change, may not focus on relevant subjects. A lot of clarity can get lost in the blur of activity.
The ongoing chess world cup has the classical format (90 minute) followed by rapid & blitz formats. It is instructive to see the opening lines adopted by grandmasters given the time-controls and their understanding of the opponent stengths. Computer aided preparation with increasing emphasis on fitness and mind training was illustrated well by Vidit Gujrathi who prepared and blitzed a 30 move sequence of top computer moves against his strong opponent, Ian Nepomniachtchi (Reference – ChessBase India video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrJqdaW7oO4). While optimum chess moves are the domain of strong programs such as Fritz, Stockfish and AlphaZero, experts have different expectations of humans w.r.t computers for finding optimum moves with low time on the clock.
While chess continues to offer endless possibilities for decision analysis and development, it is still within the realms of the bounded rationality of it’s 64 squares, moves allowed for the pieces and rules of play. The business world is far more complex with evolving rules and a much larger human dimension to be factored in for decision making. So, the following questions arise:-
- Can there be a balanced approach to analysis valuing both speed and depth?
- How can diverse constituencies valuing speed and depth be fulsomely addressed on the basis of their value systems?
For this author, insight may be found on both speed and depth dimensions when the costs required are palatable. A high-touch approach & rapid-response teams to enable quickly evolving situations along-with full rigor of an analytical hiearchy process to address due diligence required may be one of the ways to balance speed and depth.
Your opinions and experiences are welcome!
Decision Radius 