There’s a cost

You’d like to think that values-based decisions are easy.

In some ways they might be, I suppose, but they can also be incredibly difficult. Especially when you run up against the norms of society or your industry.

One of my personal management philosophies has been to be supportive of the time it takes for people to learn something new. This got me into trouble when I refused to fire a problematic employee that others were impatient with.

Did I take the right course? Well, I’ll probably never know. But it sticks in my mind 30 years later as one of my first clear decisions based on my personal values. I could have lost my job that day.

What I’ve learned is that having clear principles and values don’t make life easy. It might help you get to a decision faster, but then you have to deal with how it rubs up against others.

If you take a stand on a sensitive issue, you may lose customers. But it doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right thing to do.

Decisions always have consequences. Decide anyway.

Inspired by Robert Glazer’s insightful post last week