Sometimes there’s no “best of both worlds”. The “middle of the road” solution is not adequate, may not even make sense. Sometimes you just have to choose one or the other. Some choices only make sense if you fully embrace them.
But it’s tempting to try to build consensus. To avoid taking a stance. To try to please anyone. To cover your ass. To brainstorm. To dilute responsibility and design by committee. It’s so tempting, and so (superficially) democratic, that many organizations have distributed responsibility and decision-making processes in a way that you need to take the middle of the road if you are to make any decision at all. But some of the most critical decisions just can’t happen that way.
One of the most challenging exercises in trying to run a business is to tell which are the decisions that deserve to be opinionated and which are the ones that benefit from consensus. The skill to make this call lies at the heart of good leadership and business strategy. It doesn’t guarantee you the right decision, but it does give you a chance to try and find out.
