Essay VII · Judgment
Speed Is the Tax on Judgment
By Irene Agunbiade
Most poor decisions at the top of organisations were arrived at correctly — only too quickly to be true.
September 2025 · 8 min read
The unseen levy
Speed feels productive because its costs are invisible at the moment they are incurred. The tax is paid later — in revisions, retractions, and the quiet erosion of credibility that comes from having moved before one had finished thinking.
Confidence is not conclusion
Most rooms reward the leader who arrives at a confident position first. Few measure whether that position was correct. Over time the two diverge sharply, and the leader who has been rewarded for speed is the one least equipped to notice.
The discipline of the pause
The most expensive discipline a leader can practise is the deliberate pause between perception and action. It costs status in the room. It compounds in the result.
A note
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