How Technical Professionals Can Become Better Decision Makers

One of the most common pieces of leadership advice you’ll hear is this:

“Making the wrong decision is better than making no decision at all.”

It sounds wise. Bold, even.

But if you’ve spent any time in a corporate environment, you know it’s not that simple.

Because when things go wrong, organisations often start looking for someone to blame. Rarely does anyone come back months later and say, “Great job making that difficult decision with the information you had at the time.”

Instead, you’re sitting in a lessons-learned meeting trying to explain the sunk cost, defend the assumptions that were made, and remind everyone that the decision was based on the data available then—not on the perfect hindsight everyone now possesses.

I understand why many professionals struggle with decision-making.

I’ve seen engineers and project managers spend weeks gathering more data, running one more scenario, requesting one more report, and asking one more person for their opinion.

Sometimes that’s diligence.

Sometimes it’s fear dressed up as analysis.

And before long, we’ve fallen into a trap that technical professionals know all too well:

Analysis paralysis.

The fear of making the wrong decision becomes so great that we make no decision at all.

The irony?

Indecision is itself a decision.

Projects stall. Opportunities disappear. Teams lose momentum. Risks grow larger. And the cost of waiting quietly accumulates in the background.

The ability to make sound decisions is one of the defining characteristics of great leaders. Fortunately, it is also a skill that can be developed.

Here are some principles that have helped me become a better decision maker.

1. Practice Extreme Ownership

I believe this is the magic wand that unlocks decision-making capacity.

Ask yourself a difficult question:

Can you comfortably own up to messing up without trying to pass the blame?

Many people struggle with decisions because they are not afraid of the decision itself. They are afraid of the consequences if the decision turns out to be wrong.

So they delay.

They overanalyse.

They seek endless consensus.

They look for someone else to make the call.

But leaders understand something important:

You will not get every decision right.

Nobody does.

The best decision makers are not perfect decision makers. They are simply willing to take ownership of the outcomes.

Extreme ownership creates freedom.

When you know you can handle mistakes, you become more willing to act.

And when you act, you learn.

And when you learn, your judgment improves.

Every experienced engineer or project manager carries a collection of decisions they wish they had made differently.

Those experiences are not evidence of failure.

They are evidence of growth.

2. Assess Risk Instead of Chasing Certainty

Technical professionals love certainty.

Unfortunately, leadership rarely provides it.

Every important decision involves uncertainty.

A contractor may underperform.

A market may shift.

A client may change direction.

A piece of equipment may fail.

Waiting for perfect information is often an invitation to wait forever.

Instead of asking:

“Can I be certain this is the right decision?”

Try asking:

“What could go wrong?”

Then go one step further:

• What is the likelihood of it happening?
• What would the impact be?
• Can the impact be mitigated?
• If it cannot be mitigated, how would we recover?

This approach changes your relationship with uncertainty.

You’re no longer trying to eliminate risk.

You’re preparing to manage it.

And that’s what leaders do.

3. Combat Analysis Paralysis with the 70% Rule

Former U.S. General and later Secretary of State Colin Powell popularised what is often called the 70% Rule.

The principle is simple:

Make decisions when you have roughly 70% of the information you need.

Less than that and you’re probably guessing.

Much more than that and you’re probably waiting too long.

This principle is incredibly valuable for technical professionals.

Because if we’re honest, many of us love data.

We enjoy analysing.

We like refining.

We appreciate precision.

These are strengths—until they become excuses for delaying action.

Sometimes another report won’t improve the decision.

It will only postpone it.

At some point, leadership requires stepping forward despite incomplete information.

4. Look for the Third Option

Many difficult decisions feel impossible because we frame them as either-or choices.

Do we approve the variation or reject it?

Do we hire or not hire?

Do we delay the project or proceed?

Binary thinking can make us feel trapped.

I encourage leaders to force themselves to generate at least three options.

The third option often contains the creativity that the first two missed.

Perhaps the variation can be partially approved.

Perhaps the role can be outsourced temporarily.

Perhaps the project can proceed in phases.

The moment you expand your options, you expand your thinking.

And expanded thinking usually leads to better decisions.

5. Factor in Non-Technical Variables

This is where many technical professionals get caught out.

We are trained to solve problems logically.

We evaluate numbers, calculations, schedules, and specifications.

But leadership decisions are rarely purely technical.

People matter.

Politics matter.

Timing matters.

Organisational culture matters.

Stakeholder emotions matter.

You may have the technically correct solution and still fail because you ignored the human variables surrounding the decision.

I have learnt this lesson repeatedly in project environments.

The technically optimal answer is not always the practically implementable answer.

Good leaders learn to ask:

• How will people respond to this?
• Who wins and who loses?
• What resistance should I expect?
• What conversations need to happen first?

The best decisions balance both technical and human realities.

6. Decide, Document, and Communicate

One of the most powerful habits you can develop is documenting your decisions.

Capture:

• The decision made.
• The information available at the time.
• The assumptions.
• The risks considered.
• The reasons behind the decision.

This creates clarity.

It also protects against hindsight bias—the tendency for people to believe the outcome was obvious all along.

Then communicate the decision clearly.

People can handle difficult decisions.

What frustrates teams is confusion.

Unclear decisions create distraction.

Ambiguity creates rework.

Silence creates rumours.

A clear decision—even a difficult one—often creates momentum.

Final Thoughts

Decision-making is not about being right all the time.

It’s about moving forward thoughtfully, learning quickly, and taking ownership of the outcomes.

As engineers and project managers, we often carry the burden of significant decisions. The stakes can be high, and the fear of getting it wrong can tempt us into endless analysis.

But leadership requires courage.

The courage to decide with incomplete information.

The courage to own mistakes.

The courage to manage risk instead of seeking certainty.

The courage to consider both technical and human factors.

And the courage to act.

Because while making the wrong decision can be painful, making no decision at all can quietly become the most expensive decision of all.

So the next time you find yourself stuck in analysis paralysis, ask yourself:

Do I need more information—or do I simply need more courage?

The answer may change how you lead.