Reading B.I.F.

Reprint from Fortune magagine:

How Successful People Make Big Decisions
FORTUNE asked 10 bold, creative people to describe what guides their decision-making. Here are excerpts of what they had to say.

General Peter Pace
U.S. Marine Corps, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (nomination pending for chairman)—Washington, D.C.

When I was a second lieutenant in Vietnam, my platoon was patrolling around Hue City, and we came to a fork in the road. I called back to my company commander, "Should I go left or right?" He said, "Go left." We went a little farther, and there was another fork. I called back again: Left or right? He said, "Go right." Then I called back a third time, and he chewed me out on the radio: "You're the lieutenant. You're up there to make decisions. Figure it out." That has stayed with me all my life. On a battlefield, you don't have time to gather a lot of opinions. You have to assess the environment and make a decision based on your experience and training. You react instinctively. —Interviewed by Jerry Useem

Leatrice Eiseman
Color consultant and director, Pantone Color Institute—Bainbridge Island, Washington

I participate in international forums where colorists talk about where we see color going. I also am constantly looking at lifestyles and socioeconomic influences. In the 1990s environmentalism was a big topic, and green became a leading color. I'm bringing emerald green into the palette for 2006. It isn't all crystal-ball gazing. You have to make pragmatic choices. If I know that 35% of the population will say blue is their favorite color, then for me to say, "Don't do anything in blue because it is not the hot color this year" is ridiculous. There are certain things you can't do. You wouldn't want to put anything red in bathwater products. It looks sticky or like blood. —Interviewed by Julie Schlosser


Paul Rinaldi
Air-traffic controller—Dulles International Airport, Dulles, Virginia

You know the first day if someone's going to make it as an air-traffic controller. It's not so much analytical as it is making a decision quickly and sticking with it. You have to do that knowing that some of the decisions you're going to make are going to be wrong, but you're going to make that decision be right. You've constantly got to be taking into account the speed of the airplane, its characteristics, the climb rate, and how fast it's going to react to your instructions. You're taking all that in and processing it in a split second, hoping that it'll all work together. If it doesn't, then you go to plan B. You don't have time to overthink. —Interviewed by Barney Gimbel

Milton L. Williams
Associate Justice-New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division—New York City

On my very first case as a criminal-court judge in 1977, I gave a young man a year in jail for car theft. Afterwards I had to sit in the robing room for 15 minutes; I needed to contemplate the immense new power I had. Now that I'm an appellate-court judge hearing both civil and criminal appeals, that power's even more palpable. But it's not mine—it's the power of the robe, the bench, the law. When a statute is ambiguous, you look for the intent of the legislature. And if there's disagreement and you are in the minority, you write a dissenting opinion. You can't let your personal feelings dictate your decision. —Interviewed by Nadira A. Hira

Doug Harvey
Former Major League Baseball umpire (1962-92)—Springville, California

You can't be a preacher if you don't know the Bible. The Bible of baseball is the rule book. By the time I called my first Major League game, I knew it cold. Umpiring is 60% rule book and 40% common sense. Common sense made me ask in my second year, "Why the hell am I standing out here screaming and hollering?" I decided not to holler anymore. One day [Phillies manager] Gene Mauch came out, and I just closed my mouth and developed "Harvey's 20-second rule." Listen to them for 20 seconds, and they'll start repeating themselves. And the minute they start repeating themselves, I got 'em. On a close play, you have to sell the call. You want to let them know that, hey, I see it, and I know what I'm doing."
—Interviewed by Oliver Ryan

Arlene Blum
Mountaineer, author—Berkeley

By 1978, Annapurna had been climbed four times; nine people had died trying. We were the first Americans and the first women to attempt it. One day [on our climb], we heard this huge roar, jumped out of the tent, and saw this avalanche thundering down. I wanted the team to leave. But their thinking was, "Let's just do it." Could I have pulled rank and said, "I'm the leader, and we're going"? Perhaps, but I don't like to say, "You do this, and you do that." I prefer to facilitate a decision being made rather than make it for others. The first team summited successfully; the second did not. We found their bodies. I had not wanted them to go on, but they were adamant. This was their decision.
—Interviewed by Abrahm Lustgarten

Simon Yates
Managing Director, Equity Derivatives, Credit Suisse First Boston—New York City

When you see a trader panic, you can be pretty sure that for the next few hours, he's going to lose money. All the base instincts in your brain—what I call "caveman brain," the sort of fight-or-flight feeling of emotion that is designed to stop you from being eaten by a sabertooth tiger—takes over your decision-making. You start trading scared, taking smaller positions on good ideas and cutting profits too quickly. I can make the right call half the time by flipping a coin; a good trader does a little better. Successful traders don't spend much time regretting decisions or going back over things. If a decision turned out to be wrong, so what? Move on.
—Interviewed by Barney Gimbel

Barry Cunningham
Publisher, the Chicken House Children's Books; founding publisher, Bloomsbury Children's Books—Frome, England

When we started Bloomsbury Children's Books in 1995, publishing was full of "issue books" describing serious and important subjects for children. But they weren't books that children responded to from an imaginative point of view. I got the manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone [Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S.]. I read it that night...I just knew it was a great book. I didn't know that a dozen publishers had turned it down or that the author, J.K. Rowling, had become utterly discouraged. She needed someone to see what it was, a story of bravery and danger and adventure but with great humor—as opposed to what it wasn't, a traditional children's book.
—Interviewed by Kate Bonamici

Joe Shirley Jr.
President, Navajo Nation—Window Rock, Arizona

The Navajo Nation is the biggest native nation in the U.S. with 300,000 Navajos, and more than 27,000 square miles of land. To have a belief system, to know principles: This is what helps a leader. I like to believe that I’m a Christian. And being a Navajo person, I have my elders who have passed on our culture—what we call our Way of Life. I’m a member of the Bitterwater clan, which is a leadership clan. Bitterwaters are taught to think about decision-making, to dwell on it. The key is communication. I’m trying to borrow almost $500 million. We’ve never done bond financing, and some people don’t like the idea. With tough decisions, you’ve got to pray a lot. —Interviewed by Oliver Ryan


Joe Shirley Jr.
President, Navajo Nation—Window Rock, Arizona

The Navajo Nation is the biggest native nation in the U.S. with 300,000 Navajos, and more than 27,000 square miles of land. To have a belief system, to know principles: This is what helps a leader. I like to believe that I’m a Christian. And being a Navajo person, I have my elders who have passed on our culture—what we call our Way of Life. I’m a member of the Bitterwater clan, which is a leadership clan. Bitterwaters are taught to think about decision-making, to dwell on it. The key is communication. I’m trying to borrow almost $500 million. We’ve never done bond financing, and some people don’t like the idea. With tough decisions, you’ve got to pray a lot. —Interviewed by Oliver Ryan


Kenneth Holden
Former commissioner, Department of Design and Construction—New York City

The destruction of the Twin Towers was in a sense a huge, unplanned demolition job. So we had to do the planning retroactively, starting on Sept. 12. We had twice-a-day meetings that allowed engineers, construction people, and demolition people to come together to figure out what do we do? There was no script. There was no blueprint. There was no plan. The meetings were held with 40 to 50 people in a classroom at a nearby elementary school. Because of the fervor of the time, most egos were left at the door, and there was less bickering than usual. Through the process, it became clear what was smart, what wasn’t. That’s how we found the right way to go.
—Interviewed by Jia Lynn Yang