You don't make Bad Decisions

Two of the hardest sentences for professionals, especially leaders, to say out loud.

“I made a mistake” and “I made a bad decision”

As #SethGodin writes in his most recent article, 

there is a third possibility we often overlook:

You simply had a bad outcome.

That’s a powerful distinction.

A Bad Decision is one made without 

enough thought, logic, or integrity.

A Mistake is often a lapse in 

skill, awareness, or timing.

But a Bad Outcome? 

That might still follow 

a completely Sound Decision.

You can make the right call, 

with the best data available, 

with sound judgment and 

still lose.

still fail.

still watch things fall apart.

And that does not mean you got it wrong.

For years, I have said, “No one makes a bad decision. Everyone takes the best possible decision based on the facts and information available to them and their mental state at that time.”

 A few key takeaways from Seth’s article:

- A good decision is one grounded in available data, logic, and integrity, not emotion, peer pressure, or sunk cost bias.

- Bad outcomes don’t make your decision wrong. They reflect the uncertainty of the world.

- Mistakes should be owned, but not every failure is a mistake.

- If you confuse the three, you’ll repeat avoidable errors or abandon strategies that were fundamentally sound.

- Clarity of language matters. So does the ability to reflect without self-punishment.

For leaders, this has deep implications:

- Stop judging your decisions only by outcomes.

- Build a safe environment where fear of failure doesn't paralyze people, only makes them careful. 

- Build a culture where people can say, “We made a good decision. The outcome was unfortunate.”

- Teach your teams to distinguish between poor judgment and bad luck.

- Use reflection not to assign blame, but to refine process.

Because in leadership, what defines you is not whether everything you tried worked.

It’s whether you kept thinking clearly, deciding wisely, and leading responsibly ... especially when things did not.

#LeadershipWisdom #DecisionMaking #CoachHemant #LeadershipMindset #UncomfortableCoach #EmotionalIntelligence