Most of us have heard of Tony Robbins, likely the best known self-help guru of the past 30 years. I had heard of him but didn’t know much about his philosophies until a friend of mine said he’s a big fan of Tony’s work, so I decided to pick up his book Awaken the Giant Within. The book, published in 1991, has one of the best strategies for startups I’ve read, and it isn’t even geared towards them (written for people to help themselves).
Here’s what Tony writes about harnessing the power of decision, and indirectly, building a successful company:
- Remember the true power of making decisions.
- Realize that the hardest step in achieving anything is making a true commitment — a true decision.
- Make decisions often.
- Learn from your decisions.
- Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.
- Enjoy making decisions.
Sounds a bit like iterating/pivoting, doesn’t it?
What do you think? What else would you add about decision making?
David Cummings on Startups 
I think one of the hardest things is making the decision public and communicating that decision publicly and quickly (per your 5.15. blog) There is a whole body of research that shows that when commitments are made public, their fulfillment goes up exponentially. However, I often see the inclination to make decisions “under the radar” so that if it bombs, the entrepreneur doesn’t have egg on their face.
There is a huge amount of accountability that comes with making decisions public that drives me to execute – regardless of the outcome. They say Fail Fast (done that). Fail often (done that too) Fail publicly? I think this is a tough one. I’m sure Tony has some words on this too….