Principles of Decision Making: User’s Manual to Leadership

Level-up Engineering - A podcast by Apex Lab

Interview with James Trunk, VP of Engineering at Griffin. He talks in-depth about coming up with his principles of decision making, the ways you can do the same, and their utility in leadership.Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter!In this interview we're covering:Utilizing your principles of decision makingRole of decision principles in leadershipUsing decision principles with your teamUsing decision principles with your peers and managerDangers of using decision principlesOrigins of the decision principlesTips to create your own decision principlesEvolving your principles of decision making over timeExcerpt from the interview:"I don’t think my principles should be applied by everyone. For example, if you keep picking safe bets, you’ll probably fail to create a competitive advantage as a startup. However, in a corporate environment, safe bets might be a better path for your career.I’ve been collecting my decision principles over time, and they’re based on my experiences. I’ve done a lot of reflection on what has and hasn’t gone well, and which principles have helped me make better decisions and which haven’t. They change over time, and I’ve been keeping track of them over the years.I recommend every leader to come up with their own principles of decision making. You don’t have to treat them as absolute truth. Use them as guidelines that remind you to stop and reflect on whether you’re headed in the right direction."Click here to read the full interview!