Episode #3: Weaveâs BGS Webinar Series
Way back in 2020, Weave hosted its annual BGS on how to grow your business, communicate with customers, and retain clients. Little did we know how dramatically markets would change within that same calendar year, putting many of the principles we discussed during the summit to the test.
Last yearâs BGS had thousands of registrants, over 10 hours of high-level content, and more than 15 speakers from across the business world. This yearâs event promises to be even bigger.
As part of our preparation for this yearâs first BGS, we want to share some of the classic talks that were delivered in 2020. The video below features Dave Taylor,š whoâs been a successful CMO at Impartner Software, Stella Connect, and now Experience.com.²
? Webinar with CMO Dave Taylor | Decision Making ?
Daveâs presentation focuses on helping business owners find a way to get past the obstacles standing in their way. âYou can do it,â Dave insists. âRegardless of how large and daunting a task may be, you can always execute your way through it.â
But how?
1. Take the first blind step
Dave Taylor tells business owners to âmake the decision to make a decision.â Because of the high-stress nature of their jobs, owners often suffer from analysis paralysis. However, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, a decision to move.

Dave shares the story of his experience as a product marketing manager. There was a race in a marketing category to launch a new product. Almost every company in the market had shared research and analytics, putting them on equal footing to start.
At some point, Dave made the decision to launch first and to launch fast. This strategy proved to be a successful one. âYou rarely have all the info,â Dave says.
That doesnât mean you should shoot from the hip. Each business owner has to make an individual decision to move forward. Just remember, itâs impossible to have all the information before taking that first step.
2. Implement your plan
Thereâs no room for half-heartedness when youâre trying to implement your business plan. You have to go all-in, says Dave. Itâs easy to self-sabotage early on, and thatâs why you have to stick to your guns in the initial launch of your plan.
Dave references the leap of faith taken by Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade. He makes an analogy between Dr. Jones stepping off a ledge into the abyss and the beginning phases of any business project. To find the secret foot bridge in front of you, you have to take that first blind step.
In some situations, Dave will do a simple coin toss to help push him toward a decision. Once he flips a coin, however, he doesnât just stick with the resulting heads or tails. He does a âgut checkâ to see if the result of the coin toss actually feels like the right decision. If it seems off, he adjusts his plan accordingly. Weave helps you easily collect and monitor reviews on Google and Facebook. These reviews can be some of the best marketing for your business.
9 out of 10 people check online reviews before choosing a business
3. Refine and iterate
âAny result is meaningful,â says Dave Taylor. Of course, results wonât always be exactly what youâre looking or hoping for. By continually gathering and responding to results, however, your plan can develop, take new shapes, and become the optimized version of itself that you initially set out to create.

According to Dave, iteration unlocks willingness. As different manifestations of your business plan unfold, you and your team will understand the various nuances and challenges involved with implementing it. This process is difficult, yet rewarding.
Refinement is surprising. Thatâs why itâs crucial that you take that first leap of faith. As you go through the inevitable cycles and versions of your plan, you may need to occasionally step back and think about the next iteration. Donât be afraid to circle back to an idea the next week, giving yourself the space to make necessary adjustments.
What causes indecision?
There are a few notable reasons for indecision in the business world. The first, Dave mentions, is imposter syndrome. People feel like they donât deserve to be making high-level decisions, or that theyâre the wrong person for the job.
The second is decision fatigue. Although we all make thousands of choices in a given day, thereâs something about consistently making executive decisions that grates on even the most able leaders. When youâre experiencing this type of burnout, donât be afraid to take an ample break and come back to the decision with a fresh perspective.

Sometimes itâs not the amount of decisions, but the nature of decision-making itself that causes paralysis. The paradox of choiceÂł is that we have limitless possibilities, yet want to arrive at that one perfect option. In response to this conundrum, Dave Taylor quotes Theodore Roosevelt, who said, âIn any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.â
How to problem-solve
In order to solve problems and prioritize decision-making, Dave finds himself frequently referring to Stephen Coveyâs four quadrants.4 This framework helps Dave prioritize his decisions by categorizing them. After going over the quadrants, heâs able to determine whether to manage, focus on, avoid, or limit the amount of time heâs spending on a particular choice or problem.
The four quadrants framework obviously isnât the only tool available to business leaders. Dave considers Gokul Rajaramâs SPADE system,5 Jeff Bezosâs Regret Minimization Framework,6 and Warren Buffettâs circle of competence7 to be viable alternatives that might work better in certain situations.

The main point is to practice making decisions, perhaps beginning with smaller ones and working toward more significant choices. Youâll make plenty of mistakes along the way. However, by simply taking that first step, implementing your plan, and refining your process with the help of successful frameworks, your journey of a thousand miles will be worth the trip.
If you havenât done so already, sign up for Weaveâs 2021 Business Growth Summit and get access to the rest of our business content library.
Notes:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/davertaylor
- https://www.experience.com/
- https://www.inc.com/tanner-christensen/3-ways-to-overcome-the-paradox-of-choice.html
- https://succeedfeed.com/stephen-covey-4-quadrants-to-be-productive/
- https://review.firstround.com/square-defangs-difficult-decisions-with-this-system-heres-how
- https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/jeff-bezos-this-is-how-to-avoid-regret.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_competence