The First Option or the Best Option?

Quick Insight

Each time a problem arises, start by assessing the cost or opportunity of a situation. If it’s low, take the first option that comes to you to solve it efficiently. If it’s high, take the time to think through multiple ways to define the problem. Choose the best one of those, and only then move on to listing potential solutions.


It happens every day. Some problem comes to light. You quickly identify the solution and implement it. Chances are, your solution wasn’t the best idea but the first idea that acceptably addressed the problem.

This is the right approach for low-risk or low-reward problems. When bigger dollars are on the line, push yourself past the first thing that comes to mind. Pause to identify other options to choose the best option.

This may seem obvious to you when searching for the best solution to an important problem. However, you may have already made the mistake of choosing the first instead of the best. 

You may not have stopped to identify the best definition of the problem. If you don’t get that correct, you're identifying solutions for the wrong problem. You may be minimizing the symptoms instead of treating the underlying cause of the problem.

Each time a problem arises, start by assessing the cost or opportunity of a situation. If it’s low, take the first option that comes to you to solve it efficiently. If it’s high, take the time to think through multiple ways to define the problem. Choose the best one of those, and only then move on to listing potential solutions.

I wish you the fastest path to the right decision. I wish you well.

- Rob Stephens


Further Insight


CFO Perspective Resources

  • Download: One Page Strategic Plan Template - This simple PDF template allows you to quickly define in one page the key items for a strategic plan.
  • Course: Behavioral Finance - Overcome your destructive financial impulses by understanding common thinking mistakes. With my Behavioral Finance course, you can avoid these costly financial decision-making mistakes. The course will help you to learn science-backed ideas to make better financial decisions.

Get all the CFO Perspective resources with a FAST (Finance and Strategy Toolkit) membership.

Accelerate your success with FAST

FAST (Finance and Strategy Toolkit) is a membership program that

gives you access to a massive collection of resources

for small business advisors and staff to lead their company to

profit, growth, and purpose.

The right tools save you time, reduce your stress, and improve your effectiveness.

>
Success message!
Warning message!
Error message!