"Generally you should act somewhere between P40..." - Quote by Colin Powell
Generally you should act somewhere between P40 and P70, as I call it. Sometime after you have obtained 40 percent of all the information you are liable to get, start thinking in terms of making a decision. When you have about 70 percent of all the information, you probably ought to decide, because you may lose an opportunity in losing time.
More by Colin Powell
“Give me the right people and I don’t much care what organization you give me. Good things will happen. Give me the wrong people and it doesn’t matter what you do with the organization. Bad things will happen.”
“You have achieved excellence as a leader when people will follow you anywhere if only out of curiosity.”
“I have always held the view that decisive force should be used in addressing a military conflict. The reason is simple: Why wouldn't you, if you could?”
More on Decision Making
“I've been very careful about what I say yes to and what I say no to. And I think seriously always about... this may be a good idea right now or it may be a lot of money right now, but will it be good for me five years from now? Will it be fun? Will it make me hate myself? I think about all of those things.”
“I wonder how many decisions we make every day. I believe it's probably hundreds. We decide whether or not to get out of bed, what we'll eat, what we'll do, what we'll think about, what we'll say... and on and on.”
“If everybody trusts one another, then the person who didn't prevail will faithfully execute the decision as if it was their idea.”
More on Information
“Cram them full of non-combustible data, chock them so damned full of 'facts' they feel stuffed, but absolutely 'brilliant' with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving. And they’ll be happy, because facts of that sort don’t change. Don’t give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy.”
“Knowledge is information that changes somethingor somebody - either by becoming grounds for actions, or by making anindividual (or an institution) capable of different or more effective action.”
“Do not suffer your life to be taken by newspapers.”