Unbound with Chris DuBois · 2024-04-25 · 7 min
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
30 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
This episode addresses how leaders can make better decisions faster by developing the right information-gathering skills and knowing when to act. DuBois breaks down acclamation as the ability to quickly process your environment and extract the details you need, calling this "speed to inform" - the competitive advantage of rapid familiarization without wasting time on unnecessary data. He then introduces Colin Powell's 40-70 rule: making decisions with less than 40% of information means shooting in the dark, while waiting beyond 70% wastes time and forces your team into rushed execution. The episode distinguishes speed as a tool that only works with sound judgment, comparing it to Army Special Operations' principle that "speed is security" only when backed by proper training. DuBois argues that deliberating too long creates reactivity - a business killer - while jumping at 40% information gives you direction and time to learn and adapt. This framework applies to any B2B operator facing time-pressured decisions, from startup founders to enterprise leaders.
Colin Powell's 40-70 rule states that decisions should be made when you have between 40-70% of the information needed; less than 40% is reckless, and more than 70% wastes time and forces your team into rushed execution.
Speed to inform is your ability to rapidly gather only the necessary information required to make a decision, rather than collecting all available data. It matters because the faster you get the required information, the more time you have to consider options and execute rather than deliberating.
Waiting beyond 70% information forces you into reactivity, reduces your team's preparation and execution time, and you end up with more information but less time to act - which DuBois says rarely leads to business survival.
Leaders improve speed to inform through pattern matching from repeated similar decisions, by asking the right questions when seeking information, and by practice - the more frequently you make certain decisions, the better you identify what information is actually necessary.
No; speed is only a competitive advantage when paired with sound judgment. Speed without proper information quality (like Army Special Operations' "speed is security") is a tool that requires training and right judgment to deploy effectively.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
The episode introduces two named frameworks (speed to inform, 40-70 rule) with some practical context around decision-making processes. However, much of the content is definitional and somewhat obvious - e.g., 'speed to inform' is essentially 'getting information quickly,' and the Colin Powell rule is presented without new angles or counterintuitive extensions. The four decision-making skills (acclamation, collaboration, articulation, delegation) are outlined but not deeply interrogated.
the better we get at quickly understanding our environment and what variables we need to manage, the more time we have to consider options instead of collecting data
no decision should be made with less than 40% of the required information to make a sound decision
The Colin Powell 40-70 rule is a well-known decision-making framework and is attributed directly here without reinterpretation. The 'speed to inform' concept, while labeled distinctly, amounts to standard advice about rapid information gathering. The core ideas lack contrarian edge or first-principles rethinking; instead, the episode recycles familiar military leadership wisdom and conventional thinking about decision velocity.
Colin Powell, amazing man, right, is an army general, US Secretary of State, he had to make a lot of decisions
the 4070 rule. So the rule states that no decision should be made with less than 40% of the required information
This is a solo monologue by the host Chris DuBois with no guest present. There is no practitioner or operator brought in to validate or expand on these frameworks through lived experience.
Welcome to unbound with me, Chris DuBois
The episode relies heavily on the Colin Powell rule as a named reference but provides no specific examples, case studies, or concrete decision scenarios to illustrate how speed to inform or the 40-70 rule plays out in practice. No metrics, company examples, or detailed outcomes are given. The advice remains largely abstract and illustrative rather than grounded in specific evidence.
Colin Powell, amazing man, right, is an army general, US Secretary of State, he had to make a lot of decisions, and most of them were incredibly consequential
Many leaders I've worked with, I believe making decisions fast is a competitive advantage
This is a solo-host monologue with no interview format, guest questions, follow-ups, or dialogue. There is no conversational back-and-forth, no challenging of claims, and no live interrogation of ideas. The format is purely expository and didactic without the conversational elements the rubric evaluates.
Welcome to unbound with me, Chris DuBois
So before we can get into the concepts that I want to cover today, we need to discuss the four critical skills for decision making
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
On today's episode, I introduce two decision-making concepts: The Speed to Informed and The 40-70 Rule.
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
Unknown
Speaker 0: 00 There is a lot involved in the making decisions. So today's episode is going to give you a quick overview of the necessary skills for decision making. And we'll talk about two critical concepts, the speed to inform, and the 4070 rule. Unknown
Speaker 0: 16 Are you a leader trying to get more from your business and life need to. So join me as I document the conversations, stories and advice to help you achieve what matters in your life. Welcome to unbound with me, Chris DuBois. Unknown
Speaker 0: 33 So before we can get into the concepts that I want to cover today, we need to discuss the four critical skills for decision making. So I believe those are acclamation, collaboration, articulation, and delegation. So with acclamation, and we'll get into this more in this episode, what we're trying to collect information, we're just trying to paint the whole picture. And this is all about the skills of how we do that. Right collaboration. Now we're planning with others, we're bringing others in to get their insight to be able to filter through all of these different opinions in order to get our desired outcome. articulation. Now we're presenting ideas, right, we need to be clear in our communication so that when we do say, this is the plan, everyone understands what we're talking about, even if you are just working on your own plan, right, you're doing decision making for some like personal goal, you still need to be able to articulate that clearly to yourself, otherwise, you're not going to get as great an outcome as you could. Then finally, delegation truly comes down to commencing the plan actually aligning the pieces to say who is responsible for what and again, even if you're making your own decision, right, this is something you need to do outline those steps and say I need to do this. By then I am taking full ownership of it. Okay, now, let's jump into acclamation. We need a brief overview so that everything else we talked about makes sense. Now, acclamation is our ability to process everything around us and to become accustomed to our new conditions. So I need to, like distinguish this, I guess, from normal acclimation, where, when you're normally acclimating, right, you're trying to get comfortable, you're trying to get used to the environment, here, we're trying to acclimate, so that we can take in the world around the current situation, where we need the details, if we want to be able to make a smart decision, and we need them fast. So I call this the speed to inform, Unknown
Speaker 2: 32 hey, our goal is rapid familiarization. We often have plenty of time to take in information before making a decision. But we don't always have like that luxury, right to take our time. Therefore, the better we get at quickly understanding our environment and what variables we need to manage, the more time we have to consider options instead of collecting data. So to speak to informs primarily how quickly we can get the required information, we don't just want any information, we want what's necessary to be able to make the decision. Unknown
Speaker 3: 06 This is gonna take a lot of reps to get good at. But the more frequently you need to make certain decisions, the more likely you are to look for the right information. Right? It's because we're, as humans, we're tuned for pattern matching. And I'm definitely going to cover that in a future episode. Unknown
Speaker 3: 21 But we can also improve our speed to inform just by asking the right questions when seeking information. And now the next concept that I want to introduce is the 4070 rule. So Colin Powell, amazing man, right, is an army general, US Secretary of State, he had to make a lot of decisions, and most of them were incredibly consequential. And while he had tons of great quotes and advice for decision making, there's one that's always stood out to me, and it's the 4070 rule. So the rule states that no decision should be made with less than 40% of the required information to make a sound decision, any less than that, and the leader shooting from the hip, right. Unknown
Speaker 4: 06 Also, if a leader waits to have more than 70%, before making a decision, they've likely spent too much time deliberating robbing their team of like all the time that they have to prepare and execute. Unknown
Speaker 4: 19 Many leaders I've worked with, I believe making decisions fast is a competitive advantage. And while I I believe speed is a competitive advantage within your business, right? Speed in decision making can be a detriment. It's only valuable if you're making sound decisions, because operating with less than 40% of the information. It's like shooting in the dark. Right. Another thing that I've picked up from the army is speed is security. But just like with decision making speed only helps if you're taking the right steps. So like the Army Special Operators who use that saying, have the training to move fast Unknown
Speaker 5: 00 speed isn't just an excuse for taking absurd risks. Rather, it's a tool. Speed is an asset to deploy when necessary. This is why we want to increase our speed to inform, the faster we can get to that 40%. The faster we can make a decision, and the faster we make a decision, the faster we start learning. And that is what gives our business a competitive edge being able to move faster than anyone else to stay ahead of any curves that we're looking at. Unknown
Speaker 5: 29 Now, I have also worked with a few leaders who are incredibly timid when making decisions through so much fear, right that they would wait until the last possible minute to make a decision. This creates multiple issues. But the largest is that now you're forced into reactivity. Reactive businesses will rarely survive. When when you wait too long to make a decision. You may have more information, but you have less time to act on it. So the rest of your decision making process now is rushed, your team has less time to repair even like the execution is rushed. By making a decision at 40%. You have enough information to get yourself in the right direction. If you wait until after 70% You're going to miss a train, you have to walk. Alright, so the hardest part of the 4070 rule is knowing when you're in that window. And the unfortunate truth is that you're you're never actually going to know. But with experience you keep getting better. So in the meantime, just keep trying to make your best judgment. Work through that. Unknown
Speaker 6: 33 Okay. Two big concepts. You have the speed to inform 4070 rule. I think if you start applying these to your decision making process, I can almost guarantee better results. Unknown
Speaker 6: 47 Thanks for listening to today's episode. If you want to leave a review. Awesome, but I would recommend you head over to LinkedIn. Connect with me. Join the conversation there. You find my profile in the show notes and I look forward to connecting with you Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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