reversible vs irreversible decisions
the single most useful filter i've found for decision-making speed. comes from Bezos's type 1 / type 2 framework, but i use it constantly outside of business.
the framework
- type 1 (one-way doors) — irreversible or nearly irreversible. once you walk through, you can't come back. these deserve slow, careful thinking.
- type 2 (two-way doors) — reversible. if it doesn't work, you walk back through. these should be made fast.
the key insight: most decisions are type 2, but we treat them like type 1. we agonize over things we could easily undo.
how i actually use this
when i'm stuck on a decision, i ask: "what happens if i'm wrong?" if the answer is "i waste a few hours" or "i can change it next week," it's type 2 — just pick and go. the cost of deliberating often exceeds the cost of being wrong.
type 1 decisions are rarer than you'd think. choosing a college, taking on a cofounder, signing a long contract — these are genuinely hard to reverse. they deserve the full information-gathering process, maybe even regret-minimization.
the startup connection
in startup-workflow, this comes up constantly. product decisions are almost always type 2 — ship it, see what happens, iterate. but hiring decisions or choosing your core technology stack lean type 1. the mistake i see (and make) is treating every product call like a type 1 and moving too slowly.
common failure modes
- treating type 2 as type 1 — the most common one. spending days deciding something you could just try. analysis paralysis lives here.
- treating type 1 as type 2 — rarer but more dangerous. rushing into something you can't undo because you're in a bias toward action.
- not noticing when a type 2 becomes type 1 — some decisions start reversible but lock in over time. a "temporary" architecture choice that everything gets built on top of. see critical-path.
connection to speed
the reason this matters: speed is a competitive advantage, but only on type 2 decisions. on type 1 decisions, speed is a liability. knowing which is which lets you be fast where it counts and careful where it matters.
this connects to intentionality — being deliberate about how you decide, not just what you decide.