When it comes to business decisions, it’s usually better to make a “roughly right” choice quickly than to take too long for a more precise answer, the Harvard Business Review post “Make Good Decisions Faster” explains. But how do you ensure that you’ll make a good choice without spending hours, days or weeks deliberating? Use this simple and flexible Know-Think-Do framework to start making fast and roughly right decisions:

1. Know the ultimate strategic objective. One major barrier to a quick decision is “criteria overload.” If you try to analyze every possible objective from every stakeholder, you’ll never get anywhere. Instead, focus on the big picture. Which one or two objectives of the decision will make the biggest impact? Of the stakeholders in the decision, which one do you least one to disappoint? And which objective do they most care about?
2. Think rationally about how your options align with the ultimate objective. You can avoid the majority of judgment errors by seeking the opinion of an “Anti-You” – someone who typically views things in a different manner than yourself. Regardless of whether they have the right answer or not, their opinion will broaden your frame of reference, helping you consider the dilemma from a different perspective.
3. Do something with that knowledge and those thoughts. In the real world, perfect options are a myth, the HBR post explains. Once you’ve defined the primary strategic objectives, examined the research and consulted with at least one other person, it’s time to make a decision and live with it. There’s no guaranteeing that any choice will be the best one, but chances are that the benefit of taking more time will be marginal at best, while the loss of valuable time is a certainty.

Click here to read the post from Harvard Business Review.