Summary
Most founders think they have a time problem. They actually have a decision problem. When every path depends on you choosing, approving, or reviewing something, your entire company becomes bottlenecked by your brain.
Decision Leverage reduces stress and increases execution by making fewer, higher-leverage decisions.
Introduction
Speed doesn’t come from doing more. Speed comes from removing the number of decisions YOU personally have to make.
The real stress of building a company isn’t the work. It is the constant decision pressure.
- Should we do this?
- Should we do it now?
- Should we do something else first?
Even tiny decisions drain energy. The cost isn’t the question. It’s the switching.
The Problem: Founders carry 100 tiny decisions a day
Every time someone asks you
- “Can I do this?”
- “What should happen next?”
- “Do you want A or B?”
You’re stepping back into the operating system.
When you are the decision funnel, you become the blocker.
The Shift: Make fewer, higher-leverage decisions
- Decision Leverage means:
- deciding fewer things
- deciding them with more clarity
Setting rules so decisions don’t come back to you
Decision making is a system.
If you don’t build a system, your brain becomes the system.
The Framework: Decision Batching
Batch similar decisions together.
Example:
Instead of responding to decisions as they show up, choose one time block per day (or week) where all decisions get processed at once.
Batching turns 14 tiny interruptions into one focused moment.
The Framework: Decision Filters
Filters answer questions before they reach you.
Examples you give your team:
- Does this move revenue forward?
- Does this reduce operational risk?
- Does this improve customer outcomes?
If the answer is yes, move forward.
It’s not approval. It’s permission.
The Framework: Decision Clarity
Write down:
- how we choose
- what matters most
- what doesn’t matter right now
This removes emotional uncertainty and creates a standard.
Most decisions feel heavy because the criteria is unclear.
Why this matters for founders
Decision pressure is a silent productivity killer.
You don’t feel it until you realize your day disappeared answering tiny questions.
This is the founder trap:
- Your team waits for answers.
- You wait for time.
- Nothing moves.
Decision Leverage releases pressure instantly.
The most important question
Ask yourself:
“What decisions do I still own that someone else should?”
Your answer is your roadmap.
Closing
Founders don’t burn out from working too fast.
They burn out from making too many decisions alone.
Fewer decisions. Higher leverage. More momentum.
Author: Laura Lirette
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