A former Google exec on how to make tough decisions quickly

　　前谷歌经理：如何快速地做困难的决定

　　Speed, like exercise and eating healthy, can be habitual.

　　高速，就像运动和健康的饮食一样，可以形成惯性。

　　I’ve long believed that speed is the ultimate weapon in business. All else being equal, the fastest company in any market will win. Speed is a defining characteristic—if not the defining characteristic—of the leader in virtually every industry you look at.

　　我早就相信高速是商业中的终端武器。任何市场中两个各方面相等的公司，速度快的那个会胜出。高速是任何行业领袖的一个特质——更进一步说，是唯一的特质。

　　In tech, speed is seen primarily as an asset in product development. Hence the “move fast and break things” mentality, the commitment to minimum viable products and agile development. Many people would agree that speed and agility are how you win when it comes to product.

　　在科技界，高速大多被当做是产品开发中的优势。所以产生了“兵贵神速”的心态，对最小化可行产品和敏捷开发的追求。当谈到产品时很多人会同意速度和敏捷性是获胜的关键。

　　What they fail to grasp is that speed matters to the rest of the business too—not just product. Google is fast. General Motors is slow. Startups are fast. Big companies are slow. It’s pretty clear that fast equals good, but there’s relatively little written about how to develop the institutional and employee muscle necessary to make speed a serious competitive advantage.

　　他们没有抓住要领的是，高速对商业的其他领域也一样重要——不仅仅是产品。谷歌高速，通用汽车迟缓。创业公司高速，大公司迟缓。所以高速意味着好，但是很少有人写到如何让机构和员工形成敏捷的习惯，成为一种竞争优势。

　　I believe that speed, like exercise and eating healthy, can be habitual.

　　我相信高速，和运动以及健康饮食一样，可以形成惯性。

　　Through a prolonged, proactive effort to develop these good habits, we can convert ourselves as founders, executives, and employees to be faster, more efficient company-building machines. And, when enough members of a team exhibit this set of habits, and are rewarded with reinforcement, compensation, and promotions, the organization itself will gain velocity.

　　经过长时间的积极努力，作为创始人、执行董事、员工，我们可以通过养成这些好习惯让公司壮大得更加高速、高效。然后，当一个团队里有足够多的成员有了这个惯性，并以肯定、薪酬和升迁的方式受到奖励以后，整个组织会高速运行起来。

　　This is how category killers are made.

　　这是品类杀手的成功所在。

　　So let’s break this down. What are the building blocks of speed? When you think about it, all business activity really comes down to two simple things: Making decisions and executing on decisions. Your success depends on your ability to develop speed as a habit in both.

　　我们拆解出来看看。高速的关键是什么?你仔细想一下，所有商业活动都最终包含两个简单的事情：做决策和执行决策。你的成功就在于在这两项上变得迅速。

　　Making decisions

　　做决策

　　A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week.

　　General George Patton said that, and I definitely subscribe to it. Do you remember the last time you were in a meeting and someone said, “We’re going to make this decision before we leave the room?” How great did that feel? Didn’t you just want to hug that person?

　　一个现在就粗糙执行的好计划，和一个要等到下周执行的完美的计划，前者更好。

　　General George Patton说过此话，我绝对同意。你记不记得上一次你在会议室里有人对你说：“我们做完这个决定以后才能离开这里。”的那种感觉?你难道不想给那个人一个大大的拥抱吗?

　　The process of making and remaking decisions wastes an insane amount of time at companies. The key takeaway: WHEN a decision is made is much more important than WHAT decision is made.

　　做决策、推翻、再做决策的过程太浪费公司的时间了。重要的教训是：做决策用时比决策本身更重要。

　　If, by way of habit, you consistently begin every decision-making process by considering how much time and effort that decision is worth, who needs to have input, and when you’ll have an answer, you’ll have developed the first important muscle for speed.

　　This isn’t to say all decisions should be made quickly. Some decisions are more complicated or critical than others. It might behoove you to wait for more information. Some decisions can’t be easily reversed, or would be too damaging if you choose poorly. Most importantly, some decisions don’t need to be made immediately to maintain downstream velocity.

　　如果你形成了习惯，总是在做决策之前考虑这个决策值得花多少时间和精力，谁需要参与，当你有了答案的时候，你就走出了朝向“速度”的第一步。我并不是说所有的决定都必须快速完成。有一些决定是非常复杂和关键的。你可能应当等有了更多的信息再说。一些决定不能轻易重改，如果选择错了，后果可能很严重。更重要的是，不必去为了速度而立刻做一些决定。

　　Deciding on when a decision will be made from the start is a profound, powerful change that will speed everything up.

　　从开头就决定一个决策需要决定多久，这是一个深刻、强大的改变，会让一切高速起来。

　　In my many years at Google, I saw Eric Schmidt use this approach to decision-making on a regular basis—probably without even thinking about it. Because founders Larry and Sergey were (and are) very strong-minded leaders involved in every major decision, Eric knew he couldn’t make huge unilateral choices. This could have stalled a lot of things, but Eric made sure that decisions were made on a specific timeframe—a realistic one—but a firm one. He made this a habit for himself and it made a world of difference for Google.

　　我在谷歌司职多年中，我看到Eric Schmidt经常用到这一方法——他可能都没意识到。因为创始人Larry和Sergey头脑清醒，参与每个关键决策，Eric知道他的重大决定不可能是单边的。这个条件本会让很多事情停滞不前，但是Eric确保每个决策都在一定的时间范围内——很实际的时间范围——但是很严格。他形成了这样的惯性，并让谷歌因此大为不同。

　　Today at Upstart, we’re a much smaller company, and we’re making decisions that matter several times a day. We’re deeply driven by the belief that fast decisions are far better than slow ones, and radically better than no decisions. From day to day, hour to hour, we think about how important each decision is and how much time it’s worth taking.There are decisions that deserve days of debate and analysis, but the vast majority aren’t worth more than 10 minutes.

　　如今我们的Upstart是一个小一点的公司，我们每天好几次用这种方式做决策。我们深深地相信，快速的决定远比迟缓的好，更甚于没有决定。每一天，每一个小时，我们都去考虑每个决定的分量值多少，值多长时间。有些决策需要几天的辩论和分析，但大部分都不值得超过10分钟。

　　It’s important to internalize how irreversible, fatal, or non-fatal a decision may be. Very few can’t be undone.

　　内心要知道一个决定是无法逆转的，还是致命的，还是不致命的。只有很少的决定无法撤回。

　　Note that speed doesn’t require one leader to make all the calls top-down. The art of good decision making requires that you gather input and perspective from your team, and then push toward a final decision in a way that makes it clear that all voices were heard. As I’ve grown in my career, I’ve moved away from telling people I had the right answer upfront to shaping and steering the discussion toward a conclusion. I wouldn’t call it consensus building. But input from others will help you get to the right decision faster, and with buy-in from the team.

　　还要注意，速度不是说要一个领导者在做所有决定的时候都是独裁式的。你做出好决策的秘方是需要你从团队那里收集不同的见解，你考虑了所有的声音以后，做出一个最终决策。在我职业成长的道路上，我渐渐不再告诉大家我的见解是正确的，然后将团队的讨论引向这个方向。这个不叫达成一致。但是其他人的见解会让你更加快速地做出正确的决策，并且你的团队也会买账。

　　This isn’t a vote for rash decisions. I can be a little too “pedal to the metal” at times, and sometimes my co-founder Anna will say, “This is a big decision. Even though we think we know what to do, let’s give it 24 hours.” She’s saved us multiple times with that wisdom.

　　我不是说要你做一些草率的决定。我有时候会有点“全速前进”，有时我的合伙创始人安娜会说：“这个决定很重大。即使我们知道应该怎么做，我们还是留24小时再好好想想。”她的这种智慧解救了我们好几次。

　　There’s an art to knowing when to end debate and make a decision.

　　知道什么时候结束争论做出决定是种艺术。

　　There’s an art to knowing when to end debate and make a decision. Many leaders are reluctant to make the final call when there are good arguments and a lot of emotions on both sides. We intuitively want the team to come to the right decision on their own. But I’ve found that people are enormously relieved when they hear that you’re grabbing the baton and accepting responsibility for a decision. Using the “CEO prerogative”—to make the final call—isn’t something you ought to need every day. As long as you do it sparingly, you can actually make your employees more comfortable, and engender more trust by pulling the trigger, logically explaining your choice and sticking with it.

　　In fact, gauging comfort on your team is a really helpful measure of whether you’re going fast enough or not.

　　知道什么时候结束争论做出决定是种艺术。很多领导不愿意在双方在辩论中提出好的观点或者是很情绪化的当头做出最后决定。我们本能地希望团队会自己得出找正确的结论。但是我发现如果你把指挥棒夺过来并承担这个决定的责任时，你的团队会感觉如释重负。使用“CEO特权”做出最后的决定，不是你每天都需要做的事情。只要你用在刀刃上，你其实在承担责任、条理清晰地解释你的选择并坚持它的过程中会让你的员工们感到更加舒坦、更加信任你。

　　事实上，测量一下你团队的舒适度也是一个测量你是否足够快的有效标准。

　　You know you’re going fast enough if there’s a low-level discomfort, people feeling stretched. But if you’re going too fast, you’ll see it on their faces, and that’s important to spot too.

　　如果你的团队舒适度很低，你就知道你运转得足够快了，大家觉得难以承受。但是如果你运转地太快了，你会在他们的脸上看到一些信号，观察力也很重要。

　　While I was at Google, Larry Page was extremely good at forcing decisions so fast that people were worried the team was about to drive the car off a cliff. He’d push it as far as he could go without people crossing that line of discomfort. It was just his fundamental nature to ask, “Why not? Why can’t we do it faster than this?” and then wait to see if people started screaming. He really rallied everyone around this theory that fast decisions, unless they’re fatal, are always better.

　　我在谷歌的时候，Larry Page非常擅长逼大家快速地做决定，快到大家都担心是不是要悬崖勒马了。他会把程度正好控制在人们不会觉得不舒服。他的本能是问代价：“为什么不这么做?我们为什么不能做得更快一些?”然后静观人们会不会抓狂。他真的让所有人都团结在他的这个理论周围：快速做的决定总是好的，除非这些决定是一决生死的。