In rapidly scaling organizations, the volume and complexity of decisions increase exponentially. What worked as a nimble startup — informal huddles, quick executive calls, and centralized authority — begins to falter under the weight of scale.

The paradox many leaders face: maintaining decision quality while dramatically increasing decision velocity. Military command structures have solved this problem through clear frameworks, distributed authority, and rigorous training. Business leaders can adapt these principles while avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy.

This edition explores how to build decision systems that scale with your organization, turning potential bottlenecks into strategic advantages.

Table of Contents

• ✈️ The Scalable Decision Playbook

• 📋 Strategic Decision Frameworks

• 🏗️ Building Scalable Decision Systems

• 💡Real-World Application: Transformation in Action

• 🎯 Quick Win: Decision System Assessment

✈️ The Scalable Decision Playbook

Why Decision Systems Break at Scale

As organizations grow, decision-making often becomes the primary constraint on execution speed. Three patterns typically emerge:

1. Bottleneck Effect: Decision authority remains concentrated at the top while the volume of decisions multiplies, creating queues that slow the entire organization.

2. Consistency Challenges: Without frameworks, decisions become inconsistent across teams, creating operational friction and strategic misalignment.

3. Decision Debt: The cost of revisiting decisions multiplies as organizations grow, consuming exponentially more resources than getting it right the first time.

Signs your decision systems need an upgrade:

• Simple decisions require multiple approvals

• Teams frequently ask "who can make this call?"

• Decisions get revisited repeatedly without resolution

• Teams wait days for answers to move forward

• Everyone believes they need to be in every meeting

• Execution speed visibly slows despite adding resources

📋 Strategic Decision Frameworks

Effective organizations distinguish between different types of decisions and handle each appropriately:

1. The OODA Loop for Operational Decisions

Developed by military strategist John Boyd, the OODA Loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) provides a framework for high-velocity operational decisions:

• Observe: Gather relevant data without filter bias

• Orient: Interpret data within your strategic context

• Decide: Select a course of action

• Act: Execute decisively

The power of OODA comes from compression — reducing the time between observation and action while maintaining decision quality.

2. The RAPID Framework for Cross-functional Decisions

For complex decisions requiring multiple stakeholders, Bain's RAPID framework assigns clear roles:

• Recommend: Who prepares the proposal

• Agree: Who has veto power

• Perform: Who implements the decision

• Input: Who provides relevant information

• Decide: Who makes the final call

3. The Decision Matrix for Resource Allocation

For prioritization decisions, the Impact/Effort matrix streamlines resource allocation:

• High Impact/Low Effort: Quick wins

• High Impact/High Effort: Strategic projects

• Low Impact/Low Effort: Fill-in tasks

• Low Impact/High Effort: Avoid or reconsider

🏗️ Building Scalable Decision Systems

Transforming your organization's decision capabilities requires systemic change:

1. Create Decision Clarity

Document decision rights explicitly, answering:

• What types of decisions exist in our organization?

• Who can make each type of decision?

• What approval thresholds apply?

• What information is required before deciding?

2. Push Decisions Downward

The military principle of "commander's intent" provides a model: leaders communicate clear objectives and constraints, then empower front-line teams to execute within those parameters.

Implement this by:

• Training teams in decision frameworks

• Starting with low-risk decisions

• Building feedback loops to improve decision quality

• Gradually expanding decision authority as capabilities mature

3. Establish Decision Velocity Metrics

What gets measured gets improved. 

Track:

• Time from identified need to decision

• Time from decision to implementation

• Percentage of decisions made at appropriate organizational level

• Frequency of decision reversals

💡Real-World Application: Transformation in Action

When Captain L. David Marquet took command of the nuclear submarine USS Santa Fe, it was the worst-performing vessel in the fleet. He implemented a revolutionary decision framework called "Leader-Leader" (as opposed to the traditional "Leader-Follower" model):

• Intent-Based Leadership: Crew members announced "I intend to..." rather than asking permission, forcing them to think through decisions

• Deliberate Action: Every crew member verbalized their intended actions before execution, creating space for reflection

• Competence Hierarchy: Decision authority moved to where information lived, not where rank dictated

• Clarity of Purpose: Clear articulation of what and why, leaving the how to those closest to the work

The result: The Santa Fe rose from worst to first in operational performance and personnel retention. More impressively, the submarine produced more officers who went on to command their own submarines than any other vessel in the fleet—demonstrating how distributed decision-making creates leadership capacity throughout an organization.

🎯 Quick Win: Decision System Assessment

10-Minute Assessment: Identify Your Decision Bottlenecks

Gather your leadership team and answer these questions:

1. List your three most recent delayed projects. For each, identify:

   • What decisions caused delays?

   • Who needed to make those decisions?

   • What information was missing?

2. Map your top five recurring decisions:

   • Who currently makes them?

   • Who has the best information?

   • What's the current approval process?

   • What's the average time to decision?

3. Check for decision clarity by asking three team members:

   • Who can approve a $10,000 expenditure?

   • Who decides on hiring priorities?

   • Who can change team processes?

If answers diverge significantly, you've identified your first opportunity for improvement: creating decision clarity.

💭 Community Question

📊 Quick Survey

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📅 Coming in Two Weeks: Remote Operations Excellence

Our next edition will explore how leading organizations build high-performance remote operations that maintain productivity and culture across distributed teams. We'll examine communication rhythms that drive alignment without causing meeting fatigue, strategies for maintaining operational visibility in distributed environments, and proven approaches for building strong culture when teams rarely share physical space.

🤝 What's Your Challenge?

Reply with your biggest decision-making challenge — I read and respond to every message. To learn more about how I could help you implement effective decision frameworks in your organization, check out Summit Growth Strategies.

Keep scaling smart,

Charlee