I thought that the above quote from chapter 12 was the most powerful part of this book thus far. “Military leaders must weight the effects of their decisions carefully, because usually there is not turning back”. This is important to keep in mind, because decision making is a constant and reoccurring process as an Army Officer. Because you are always on the job, this may catch you by surprise. You may be forced to make decisions when you were not expected to. The decisions are important because they have a large impact on everybody else involved, and these must be carefully chosen.

That being said, this aspect can not be the only one that you are thinking about. If you focus too much on making the correct decision, you may make no decision at all. This is far worse. Though you must be aware of how your decisions affect others, you often do not have the time to think about every possible aspect and consequence to your decision. So you must be able to make a decision quickly.

There is a middle ground that must be found within a person when given the power to make important decisions. This middle ground lays between the two different thought processes  have provided above. You must be able to make the correct decisions and think through your process, but not take too much time. However you must not focus strictly on your time frame. A good leader is able to equally weight the time frame and the thinking process in their head, offer a solid decision and execute.

In the word’s of NCAA Basketball Coach, NCAA Hall of Famer and leadership author, John Wooden, “Be quick-but never hurry.”