The Counter Clock: Why Decision Velocity Matters
The hidden expiration dates of leadership decisions — and why timing is everything
Welcome to Frank Takeaways. I'm Frank, writing the notes worth keeping from decades at companies like Slack, Etsy, and Google. I run a coaching practice dedicated to guiding leaders through the tricky stuff of building products and high-performing teams.
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Milk doesn’t warn you before it spoils. One day it’s fine, the next, it’s a liquid liability. I learned this lesson not from dairy, but from a leader who changed my view of decision-making: “Decisions have the shelf life of milk on the counter — you need to move fast.”
That insight stuck. Timing beats perfection, whether launching a feature or restructuring a team. A perfect plan delivered too late is worthless. A good-enough version that catches the moment? That's gold.
Like milk left on the counter, opportunities don't stay fresh forever. They gradually lose their potential until hitting a point of no return. Miss that window, and even the best strategy turns sour.
But this isn’t just about product strategy. All decisions benefit from timely action and momentum.
The Organizational Window: Why "Yes" Has an Expiration Date
Windows of opportunity aren’t just about market timing — they’re about alignment and momentum. When leadership green-lights an initiative, that approval has a shelf life.
Today's enthusiastic "yes" becomes tomorrow's "not now." Budgets get slashed, your champion takes a new role, or the latest crisis steals attention. Many great initiatives don't fail because they were wrong; they fail because they missed their support window.
The leadership team that championed your Q1 proposal might face different pressures in Q3. Decisions don’t exist in a vacuum. Act when the window is open.
The Momentum Principle: Why Shipping Beats Endless Noodling
You can’t steer a parked car. Momentum matters more than theoretical perfection. Shipping generates clarity faster than planning — it’s the currency of progress. While some teams debate the perfect feature set, the fast-moving teams learn from real users.
The Slack Example: Prototyping the Path
Slack formalized this principle into their product philosophy: "Prototype the path." Instead of endless planning meetings, they bias toward building:
Get working code in front of users quickly (starting with their own team)
Let designers and engineers collaborate in real-time.
Learn from actual usage, not theoretical discussions.
Adjust based on reality, not assumptions.
While many teams might have spent months debating feature specs in meeting rooms, Slack's team was already learning from thousands of real interactions. They didn't let the milk sit — they kept pouring and learning from each pour.
A Personal Counter-Clock Moment
I used this principle firsthand when deciding to pursue coaching full-time. Conventional wisdom suggested months of market research, classes, certification, and business planning. Instead, I treated it like milk on the counter.
Fundamentally, I had two questions:
Would I enjoy this full-time — or was I chasing the novelty?
Can I make it an interesting, sustainable business?
These questions could only be answered through action. Other methods had lower information gain and accuracy.
Within 24 hours of deciding, I posted on LinkedIn that I was available for free career coaching sessions. Within 24 hours, I had 20 sessions booked and eclipsed 50 by the end of the week.
Over the following weeks, I started leveraging frameworks into my practice and built a simple website. By the end of the month, I was on my way to understanding my question #1 and iterating on my approach.
No time for second thoughts — it was in motion.
The Problem Romanticization Trap
"Your team loves to romanticize the problem," my colleague observed after her group joined my team. I love that phrasing because it attempts to make analysis-paralysis sound noble. It's not.
Signs You're Over-Analyzing the Problem
Endless refinement of requirements: You are (always) one (more) document away from perfection and perfect clarity.
Increasingly complex user personas: Does understanding your users more change what you do next? Or the thing after the thing?
Waiting for “more data” despite clear patterns: If you have all the data you need, you’ve waited too long.
One more stakeholder or team alignment meeting: If consensus was always possible, they wouldn’t need you as a leader.
Look, these aren't bad practices. They're good habits that became crutches. And no, this isn't permission to ship garbage — that's everyone's favorite excuse for inaction.
Au contraire, my dear romantic! The real challenge isn't choosing between rigor and speed: it's mastering both. You don't stop shipping or learning — you accelerate both in parallel.
Ship small, learn fast. Start releasing while continuing research.
Use early releases to refine strategy.
Let real user behavior guide your roadmap.
Build feedback loops into every release. That way, you keep your product fresh while ensuring quality — like keeping the milk cold while still using it daily. Your opportunity or team morale won’t sour.
The Decision Temperature Framework
Not all decisions spoil at the same rate. Their "temperature" dictates how you balance speed with deliberation:
Shelf-Stable Decisions (Room Temperature)
These can wait — they won’t significantly impact your position.
Minor process improvements
Documentation updates
Internal tooling refinements
Non-critical fixes
Perishable Decisions (High-Heat)
These spoil quickly. Delay, and you’ll find competitors have seized the opportunity or team morale has curdled beyond repair.
Competitive feature responses
Time-sensitive market opportunities
Critical customer escalations
Team alignment issues
Organizational Decisions (Time-Sensitive)
These depend on leadership buy-in and budget cycles.
Strategic initiatives with leadership approval
Budget allocation periods
Reorganization opportunities
Cross-functional alignment moments
Foundation Decisions (Bedrock)
These need deliberation — but not indefinite stalling.
Core architecture decisions
Product vision and strategy
Platform or paradigm shifts
Key technical leadership hires
Understanding these temperature zones helps you prioritize. Just remember: even room-temperature milk will spoil if you forget about it long enough.
Final Thought: The Counter Clock
This isn't just about avoiding spoiled milk. It's about seizing moments. Windows of opportunity slam shut daily. While you're perfecting your plan, someone else is already pouring.
Great leaders understand that speed and quality aren’t opposites. They’re partners in a carefully choreographed dance, moving together to the steady tick of opportunity.
Because in the end, the perfect decision made too late isn't just spoiled milk — it's an opportunity you will never get back.