There’s an excellent thread on x calling out Shopify CEO Tobi on making abrupt unilateral decisions that change course without team or insider input. He stands by it and multiple ex-Shopify folks come to his defence.
On of the interesting concepts highlighted is: pulling the pain forward
“If it hurts, do it more frequently, and bring the pain forward.” ― Jez Humble, Continuous Delivery: Reliable Software Releases Through Build, Test, and Deployment Automation
This is great advice for running companies but life in general. All the trite aphorisms around being truth seeking amount to this. Essentially cut through the noise and get around to what needs to be done while you have the time and can mitigate the impact. Great humans and companies, burn less cycles arguing around cultural issues or debating and instead have a scientific / empirical curiosity and will just keep tempo by making reversible decisions to figure out what works and what doesn’t (take a bit more time to deliberate for irreversible ones).
Other teams get stuck in muck and mire debating or avoiding the pain. It takes courage to stand by a decision. There should be a person that decides and provides conviction (even if often wrong) and reflects after the fact. These are two different actions which are ineffective when combined. Ie., you commit to doing x but keep debating if its effective rather than trying with full force and committing to reviewing earnestly at a later date.
Great companies are a learning companies at the end of the day.