Building the Plane as You Fly It

One of the most nerve-wracking and stimulating things an executive does is building a business or brand without all the needed staff, data, customer insight, etc. needed to ensure success. I love the phrase "building the plane as you fly it." I feel like this describes my professional life to a T. Critical decisions are often made much more quickly than I'd like -- I assess enough data to determine a trend and a direction for my initiative, but I probably don't have time to study all of it. Not all people are wired for this type of role; TriMetrix is a great tool for helping you assess your natural behavior and better understand how you might react to this type of pressure. (See my February 8 post about TriMetrix for more info.)

Here's how I personally approach these critical decision moments:

• Look for trends in information that is currently available.
• Evaluate whether the decision fits into our annual plan objectives.
• Consider how much time and resources are required to implement. If we need more, can it be managed with temporary or freelance talent?
• Determine the ROI.
• Ask: "Will we be better for it?"

Finally, trust your instincts. You've gotten to this point in your career by doing something right. I'm willing to guess it had something to do with listening to that voice in the back of your head.