Wrong decisions vs. bad decisions

While even the best leaders aren’t perfect decision-makers, it’s still true that a wrong decision is different from a bad decision.

• A wrong decision is your best guess when you have no way of knowing. (Door No. 1 vs. Door No. 2, for example.)
  
  
• A bad decision is the wrong call with the facts staring you in the face. (Launching a space shuttle, for instance, when engineers have warned you of nearly certain failure.)
  
  Bad decisions are unforced errors.
  

That distinction matters because you can’t necessarily control outcomes, but you can control process, which helps you avoid bad outcomes.

For you to be effective, your people need to make decisions all the time without you hovering over them. You can’t tell them what to decide, but you can show them how, and pick who decides. Pick right enough times and you’ll build an empire.

— Adapted from “Decisions, Decisions,” Jerry Useem, Fortune.