Choices vs. Decisions
What’s the difference between a choice and a decision?
I see a decision as the process of articulating what you want, without necessarily knowing how you will get there, then creating options to make it happen. By contrast, a choice involves picking the best path among the ones you see, even if it’s not ideal. You make a choice amongst available alternatives. A decision can mean rejecting those to create yet another path.
The difference is especially important for startup founders. This past week, I was talking with an entrepreneur who was considering three potential sources of funding. First was a well-connected investor offering a so-so term sheet; second, a potential strategic partner in an industry only peripherally related to the founder’s company; third was an individual investor offering attractive terms, but without connections that could lead to new customers. Yes, the entrepreneur could choose one of these alternatives. None was bad. But none would take her where she wanted to head. She was evaluating the three, aiming to pursue the least bad among them.
A crucial sign that this founder needed to reframe the situation was that she was confused about the options. She was trying to make them work, but dissatisfied with each. We took a step back. How could the founder create a next step she could get excited about? As we talked, it became clear that, as she envisioned what was best for her and for the business, she was easily able to define a different, better, and still hypothetical, funding and business development approach.
Once she started with a clean slate, rather than choosing from available options, by getting clear that she wanted something else entirely, the founder was allowing herself to take back her power over her direction.
She may still choose one of the three options available to her. But if she does, it will be after actively weighing the pros and cons and allowing herself to pursue none-of-the-above vs. forcing what’s on the table to fit.
Decisions can be harder than choices. Decisions can require you to consider rejecting what’s in front of you and creating new options. Your brain may tell you that’s a ‘do-nothing’ approach that represents stasis, or a step backward. But nothing says that has to be true. When pursuing a new path — one you have to envision and define — you will likely have to create momentum from scratch, which takes energy, focus and resources. It’s natural to resist.
What’s crucial is that when you’re deciding, you’re harnessing your own power over your future. When you’re choosing, you may be forcing an option to work, and giving up more than you want to in the process.
Pay attention when you are considering options. Are you choosing the least bad alternative? Are you getting confused? Accommodating to others? Or are you actively deciding what is the right direction for you?
Most importantly, are you willing to do the extra work to reject available options, and to build a new and different route?
I would argue that the latter, while potentially harder at the start, will be more likely to get you where you want to be. It requires self-knowledge, self-confidence and energy. Not only will the destination be more satisfying, but you’ll also learn a lot along the way.