I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
5 decision-making tools I use every week
|
Hey Reader, When I was in Mexico last month with the Kit team for one of our retreats, I led a session on how to make decisions. Specifically, how to make better decisions faster so you can have a bias for action. I walked the team through some of the tools I use all of the time, and I figured you might find them useful too. Here are 5 of my favorite decision making frameworks: 1. Does this get better or worse with time?When you're stressed about a problem, ask yourself two questions:
Only tackle problems that get worse with time AND whose outcome you control. Everything else will either fix itself or isn't worth your energy. This will help keep your stress low so you have more capacity for what you can influence. 2. One-way vs. two-way doorsHow reversible is this decision you need to make? This one comes from Jeff Bezos. Some decisions are one-way doors, meaning they’re hard or impossible to reverse. An example of this would be changing your company name. Others are two-way doors, which means they’re easy to reverse if you're wrong. Most decisions are two-way doors. Don't waste time deliberating over something you can easily undo. Move fast if it’s a reversible decision. Take your time if it’s irreversible. 3. The 1:3:1 ruleThis one's from Dan Martell's book Buy Back Your Time. It saves time if you have a team. Before someone can ask for help, they need to:
I find this so helpful because clearly defining the problem gets you halfway there. Three solutions forces you to get creative, and then the recommendation shows you've thought it through. 4. Unless I hear differently (UIHD)Instead of asking for permission or consensus, state what you're doing with a specific date:
"Unless I hear differently, I plan to ship this change on March 1st."
This is all about creating a bias for action, but it still gives people a chance to weigh in. It's good for decisions that aren't high stakes. Just be thoughtful about the timing and don't use this when key people are out or it’s a controversial decision. 5. Decision-Making Framework (DMF)For big decisions or ones that have gotten bogged down, we use Coinbase's decision-making framework at Kit. It forces you to get clarity on:
Half the time, just getting on the same page with things will give you enough clarity to move forward. We've used this for everything from designing Kit's logo to structuring our profit-sharing model. — These frameworks all create a bias for action and help you make decisions faster. Pick one decision you've been avoiding this week and try one of these. PODCASTHow To Train Your Mind Like The World’s Best AthletesJustin Su’a has coached athletes in the MLB, NFL, and PGA, along with teams at Google, Lululemon, WWE, and the military. In this episode, he breaks down how top performers make critical decisions under pressure. We talk about the mindset shifts that separate pros from amateurs and the systems that help you stay steady when everything feels chaotic. Justin shares some fun behind-the-scenes stories from the World Series and other high stakes leadership moments, plus how to build relationships strong enough for honest feedback. We get into:
Watch or listen to episode » JOBWe're Hiring at Kit Studios (Boise + NYC)We're hiring two roles at Kit Studios, our in-house recording space where creators can produce podcasts and video content for free. Both roles are on-site and focused on making sure every creator who walks through the door has a great experience. The Boise role is part-time (20-25 hours per week) and leans more toward operations and systems across all three studio locations. The New York City role is full-time and focused on community-building and becoming a go-to person in the NYC creator scene. If either of these sound like a fit for you or someone you know, take a look at the full listings below. Boise: Learn more and apply » CONFERENCECraft + Commerce 2026: Lifelong friendsMaking friends as an adult is hard. Making them online is even harder. Especially when it comes to finding people who actually get it. And not many people understand the unique struggles that come with being a creator. That's why getting in person is so important. When you're at a conference for several days, you build relationships fast. Over dinner, running into someone during a break, staying up late talking through ideas. The people you meet at Craft + Commerce are the type who will become your lifelong friends. We're announcing more incredible speakers soon, but if you know you want to come, now's the time to register. Because you can save $150 with our current promotion. The price goes up permanently February 20th. This event will sell out, so don’t wait! Have a great week! —Nathan |
Nathan Barry
I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
Hey Reader, If I could solve only one thing in my business, that would have the biggest impact, what would that be? This is the question every great entrepreneur obsesses over. Rather than trying to do everything at once, you look for the bottleneck and focus on solving that. There’s a book called The Goal by an Israeli physicist named Eliyahu Goldratt. It’s a 1984 business novel that business systems nerds love. However if you’re not a business systems nerd you probably… won’t love it. It’s...
Hey Reader, Have you ever spent money on something and immediately felt guilty afterward? Will Guidara spends his money foolishly on purpose. And he thinks you should too. He once bought an entire barrel of whiskey and put it in his basement. He also put a skee-ball machine in the office. Is he going to get a monetary return on either of these things? No. But that’s kind of the point. He calls it the 95/5 rule: Manage your money and time like a maniac 95% of the time (no expense is too...
Hey Reader, Have you ever spent a whole day on something almost nobody saw? It's painful when the whole reason you worked hard was because you wanted to reach people. If you teach a workshop in person, you reach the 20 people in that room. But if you record that same workshop once, you can keep teaching for years on autopilot. This is the concept of leverage, and it's something I talk about in my upcoming book, The Ladders of Wealth (you can pre-order it now). A lot of people will look back...