For Growth-minded, independent, specialist physician-owners.
The Hidden Power of Better Options: Why “Which One?” Beats “Should I?”
Decision-Making Series, Part 3 of 7
DECISION-MAKING
P. Thompson
1 min read
High-performing practices don’t make better decisions because they’re braver. They make better decisions because they consider more viable options before committing.
Why Most Owners Stop Too Early
The first workable idea feels like progress:“We need another provider.” “We’re out of space.” “We need a second location.” Those may be true, but they’re not complete. Unfortunately, as momentum builds for some first pass option, consideration of potential better alternatives naturally fades away. It's human nature.
On the other hand, when owners slow down and deliberately generate multiple alternatives, something interesting happens: better options appear.
More Options = Less Risk
Considering multiple paths doesn’t increase complexity. It increases leverage.
For example, if you considered three ways to increase capacity without adding providers, you might come up with choices that actually decrease your risk and cost loss, and increase upside speed. That’s leverage.
If you created multiple compensation models before hiring, it provides leverage in negotiation.
If you strategized different expansion models with different capital exposure, you give yourself better choices that protect against risk. That’s leverage too.
This exercise alone expands your thinking. You may find yourself coming up with creative new ways to approach the problem you’re trying to solve, without needing one more piece of “information”.
Practices that stall tend to lock onto the first solution that “could work”. Practices that scale examine several that “might work better”.
A Simple Rule
If you’re choosing between two options, you haven’t done enough thinking yet. Force yourself to identify at least three plausible paths forward, even if you ultimately reject them. Your future profit might just depend on the options you didn’t initially see.
I wrote an in-depth, step-by-step “how-to” guide to help practice owners find and solve the right problem to achieve their goals, a first step to successful, profitable growth. You can download it for free HERE.