Making Wrong Decisions

Many of us obsess over making the right decisions. However, it’s important to keep in mind:

  1. The world is random. In stochastic environments, it’s better to think about what decision-making framework, or policy, to adopt, rather than a specific action (which could be better in one randomly seeded version of the world, and worse in another).
  2. Making mistakes forge internal convictions that are hard to replicate otherwise.

As much as we can try to internalize learnings without undergoing failure ourselves (like reading about others’ mistakes), first-hand experiences are irreplaceable.

Mis-steps are especially fine when:

  1. The cost of attempting again or switching paths is low.
  2. The difference in outcomes between the right and wrong decision is minor.