Your approaching this from the perspective of an adviser or consultant to the manager concerned – rather than the manager – yields some good insight. It is also a good idea, albeit not always easy to practice, to try to use generally when we’re stumped, or otherwise trying to gauge a situation: try to look at it from the outside, or from a particular sort of professional or expert perspective.

Your observation – “Being stumped can be an unnecessarily intense blow to some leaders who manage via persona, or emotional energy.” – is a great catch. The responses to that shock, or efforts to deny its occurrence, can also be interesting. This is good to see the insight isolated like this – excellent – thanks!

“Thinking out loud” when trying to sort out a situation, I agree, doesn’t so much convey doubt as the resolve to dispel it and the self-confidence to not confuse being responsible for a decision with the (false) necessity of being its source.

You also touch on a great point about always being alert to the possibility that you may be lumbering into a learning opportunity (from a mistake) – rather than just doing a post-mortem amid the rubble of failure, keep your eyes open for evidence (both supporting and conflicting) and learn as you go.

Thanks for joining in on this one – you’ve provided, as you always do, a lot to think about!

As a rule of thumb in business, action is preferred over passivity – although you’ve made the point, Jim, again and again, that acting without really thinking about what you’re doing can be a disaster. A confident manager “thinks out loud” to advisers and colleagues, especially when the situation is unclear, and doesn’t worry that he or she is conveying doubt. Better to convey a clear-eyed view of shared reality.

Most importantly, whether you decide on a “focused lunge,” or to continue the “attrition warfare,” remember what caused you ultimately to decide as you did. If it goes well, great. If it doesn’t, remembering honestly which considerations caused you to decide as you did allows that cliché about “learning from mistakes” to actually have a chance to become true. It’s amazing how seldom that process actually occurs.