{"id":122801,"date":"2024-02-06T12:26:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T16:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=122801"},"modified":"2024-02-09T12:05:09","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T16:05:09","slug":"slow-but-steady","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/slow-but-steady\/","title":{"rendered":"Slow but Steady: Does It Really Win the Race?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Is slow but steady always the best approach? Or are there times when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/snap-decisions\/\">snap decisions<\/a> are better?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A slow but steady approach to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/methods-of-decision-making-crucial-conversations\/\">decision-making<\/a> can help you make more purposeful and thoughtful decisions. However, having expertise in an area allows you to make good quick decisions, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on for more on the benefits and drawbacks of a more thoughtful approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-does-slow-and-steady-always-win-the-race\">Does Slow and Steady Always Win the Race?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Researchers say we tend to make our bigger decisions <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2019\/01\/21\/the-art-of-decision-making\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">with less deliberation<\/a> than we put into our smaller decisions, which runs contrary to the advice that a good decision is slow and purposeful. But according to some experts, that\u2019s OK. For example, in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/blink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Blink<\/em><\/a>, Malcolm Gladwell argues that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/blink\/shortform-introduction\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">snap judgments are often just as sound<\/a> as deliberate decisions. He writes that it\u2019s often less useful to gather all the information and deliberate over it than to let your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-unconscious-mind\/\">unconscious mind<\/a> make a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/blink\/part-1#how-snap-decisions-work-in-the-brain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fast and accurate<\/a> decision. But this doesn\u2019t mean that you can make a good decision without any background knowledge: Gladwell writes that you need to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pmi.org\/learning\/library\/innate-intuition-emotional-intelligence-thinking-4382\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">develop the expertise<\/a> and accumulate the experience that will inform your intuition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/the-signal-and-the-noise\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>The Signal and the Noise<\/em><\/a>, statistician Nate Silver advocates a slow but steady approach to decisions. Silver explains that many decisions are essentially predictions. He contends that to make good predictions, you have to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/the-signal-and-the-noise\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">detect the signal<\/a> (the relevant information) amidst the noise (the distracting details). Silver advises updating your predictions as you get new information, and becoming more aware of how your assumptions <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/influence-decisions\/\">influence your decisions<\/a> so you can <a href=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks.org\/article\/whats-in-a-prediction-on-nate-silver-and-the-science-of-probability\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">keep one idea from dominating<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is slow but steady always the best approach? Or are there times when snap decisions are better? A slow but steady approach to decision-making can help you make more purposeful and thoughtful decisions. However, having expertise in an area allows you to make good quick decisions, too. Read on for more on the benefits and drawbacks of a more thoughtful approach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":122802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,42,43],"tags":[1397],"class_list":["post-122801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-motivation","category-self-improvement","tag-better-decisions-fewer-regrets","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Slow but Steady: Does It Really Win the Race? - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is slow but steady a good approach to decision-making? 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