How to take the leap of faith and make (difficult) business decisions

1. How to take the leap of faith
and make (difficult) business
decisions

2. Recently, skydiver Luke Atkins made history by being
the first person to plummet 25,000 feet from an
aeroplane—without a parachute.
Atkins had only a camera, GPS, and a net to
guide him to safety during his two-minute
freefall.

3. It’s a pretty scary position to find yourself in, and
while most of us probably don’t face life or death
situations in our everyday work,
we’re probably all familiar with the sense of
anxiety you feel when on the brink of a big
business decision.

4. As business leaders, difficult decisions
often require a leap of faith.
Whether it’s investing time and money into
a new business venture, or dramatically
rearranging your business structure, the
uncertainty of being faced with big
decisions can sometimes feel like you’re
about to jump out of a plane without a
parachute.

5. So what steps must you
take before you decide
whether to make that
leap of faith?

6. This is an important step, but it is only the
first in a long journey…
Listening to your gut instincts
is very different to trusting
them.

7. However, there is a lot of power in listening to
your gut instinct, and understanding how it fits
in with your journey.
If you have a strong inclination towards making a
certain change, ask yourself the following
questions:

8. How would making this
change fit in with my overall
desired outcome for my
business?
What resources will I need to
implement this change?
What is the alternative?

9. If your gut feeling aligns with your answers
to these questions – you might be on to
something.

10. Consider the following examples…

11. In 2010 Steve Jobs famously predicted
the success of the tablet when data at
the time suggested the PC would
continue to dominate.

12. In 1998, Motorola CEO Gregory Brown lost the
company $8 billion when he ignored reports indicating
the success of the mobile phone and instead, heavily
invested in Iridium satellite phone technology, which
was already essentially obsolete.

13. Data is a powerful tool, but it becomes
even more so when combined with
intuition.

14. It’s easy to get caught up in an idea, but
remember that data is a crucial factor of
decision making – that’s why we collect
it.
Similarly, relying on data alone isn’t
always enough. When faced with a
difficult decision, take time to inform
yourself in more ways than one.

16. You’re never facing a decision
alone…
your team is not only your network
of support, but your door to the
bigger picture.

17. Seek advice. When we seek advice, we
seek confidence in others.
Simply ask your team “what do you
think?”.

18. If gathering data is an important step in
making a leap of faith, then gathering the
opinions should be too.
This will help you to make a
better decision.

19. Luke Atkins might not have had a
parachute when he jumped 25,000
feet, but he did have a net.

20. When faced with a decision to make, you should
thoroughly consider all the possible negatives
and come up with an action plan about what
you can do to minimise them.

21. Have you ever taken a
big leap of faith?
@SafarazAli
Safaraz Ali