TentBlogger

I found this poster cleverly tucked away at a friends house in a very strategic and comical context, one that I’ll save for you in terms of your imagination!

But, I’m finding more and more that I’ve have to vett my battles and outline the cause and effect because the impact is becoming more widespread. This makes sense as I have more responsibilities and roles than I’ve ever had but I never thought I would spend so much time in the consideration process!

Historically I have been led by my gut and my intuition the vast majority of the time – I believe that as an entrepreneur and a leader of startups you must. But I know that I’ve leveraged my gut too many times for my own good so I’ve been learning the fine art of sitting on a decision for much longer.

In fact, one of the ways that I’ve been doing this is simply saying these three words:

I don’t know.

Quickly followed by these:

Let me get back to you on that.

I hate that phrase, especially when it’s pitched to me but I’m learning that it’s more appropriate than ever before.

Picking battles for me doesn’t just mean that I have to choose between winning or losing or going one direction or another – it’s choosing the solution and perspective that I need to maintain even after I’ve made a choice that may have been on either side of the winner/loser fence.

That’s tough for me as it may be tough for you as well. It means staying the course when you’re bored or don’t see a positive end in site. In startup world we call this the “persevere or pivot” decision, one of the toughest decision that you’ll have to make time and time again.

But I also find this at a microscopic level as well, even here on my blogs. It means being a bit pickier with the blog content that I write and even choosier with the comments that I may or may not respond to. It’s not about right or wrong here, necessarily, but rather what can provide the most value for the smallest amount of time available.

What is your decision-making process when it comes to picking your battles? How do you typically fare when all is said and done? I want to venture that most people, if we’re honest with ourselves, lose more than we win – and that’s ok, I think that’s life.