Someone recently asked me “Are you scared your going to make a bad decision and the company will suffer?”

Of course I’m scared. I make bad decisions all the time but when it’s time to make a big decision I almost always get it right.

Here’s the trick – an incredibly important concept discussed by Jim Collins in his book Great by Choice : Bullets Before Cannonballs – first “firing bullets” to gain empirical validation before making a big bet (firing a cannonball).

We shoot lots of bullets before we launch cannonballs. You can consider these “bullets” as low-cost, low risk tests or experiments. Your missed shots are quick and have minimal impact on the company. When bullets hit the mark your load your cannonballs and unleash everything you’ve got.  Successful companies find ways to test the waters before investing large resources into a project or making a critical business decision.