A Decision-Making Framework to Stop Bleeding Time and Focus

I have to stop lying to myself.

My biggest weakness isn't starting things; it's my refusal to stop them. So I let my own bad projects live on, keeping them on life support with one more budget cycle, one more pivot, anything to avoid admitting I was wrong.

Every time I do that, I pay a tax. A self-imposed, stupid tax. I call it the "Indecision Tax," because it’s a slow bleed of my own focus and an erosion of my own credibility. It’s an anchor I not only forge, but voluntarily chain to my own ankle.

I hold on for the worst reasons: ego, sunk costs, and the gutless fear of being proven wrong.

That had to stop.

I learned that willpower alone isn’t a strategy. My gut instinct, which I trust for most decisions, becomes a liability when my own ego is on the line. I needed a system to short-circuit that bias - an unemotional checklist that could function as a kill switch for my worst ideas.

What I built is that kill switch. It’s the spine I needed - a simple system for protecting myself from myself.

My system isn't complicated. It’s five questions.

Unemotional, unflinching, non-negotiable.

An idea must survive all five questions. If it fails even one, it dies. No appeals. No exceptions.

Here they are.

The Initiative Kill Switch

1. Market Fit or Vanity Project?

This question has one purpose: to remove my ego from the equation. It separates a documented market need from my own curiosity. Value isn’t what I find interesting. Value is what a customer pays for.

Litmus Test: Name the specific customer who will write the check.

2. The One-Sentence Mandate

A mission I can't define in a single sentence is a mission that's already lost. It isn't complex; it’s broken. This question exposes that flaw instantly.

Litmus Test: State the objective. If you take a breath, it fails.

3. Strategic Urgency

A good idea at the wrong time is a bad idea. So the question is always "Why now?" A worthy initiative solves a problem or seizes an advantage today. Not next year.

Litmus Test: What fire does this put out? No fire? The project is dead.

4. The Profit & Loss Question

I don’t allow wishful thinking. Every project must draw a direct, unambiguous line to tangible value. No "brand-building." No vague promises. Just the numbers.

Litmus Test: Map it to the P&L. Revenue. Costs. Moat. If there's no line, there's no project.

5. The Resource Reality-Check

The most valuable currency in my business is the focused attention of my A-players. An idea that steals focus from our core business isn't just an opportunity; it's a high-stakes trade-off. Its potential reward must be enormous enough to justify the guaranteed cost of distraction.

Litmus Test: Your best person is working on your most important project. Is this new idea more important than that? Answer yes or no.

The Implementation

This framework isn't a poster I hang on the wall. It’s a weapon I use to change the culture.

When anyone comes to me with a new initiative - a project, a feature, a budget request - I stop them cold before the slide deck even opens.

The script is always the same:

"You have ten minutes. No slides. Walk me through the Kill Switch audit and convince me this is the single most valuable thing our best people could be doing right now."

The effect is immediate.

It changes the room from a sales pitch to a courtroom defense. Vague promises die. Weak assumptions are exposed and destroyed. The conversation is no longer about how interesting an idea is, but about how much value it will create.

The greater impact is on my team. They already know the questions. They already know the rules. So they stop bringing me half-baked ideas. They bring me battle-tested survivors - proposals that have already been through the gauntlet and earned the right to my time.

This isn’t about stifling good ideas. It’s about creating the ruthless focus required to fund and execute the great ones.

It protects my time. It protects my team’s focus. And it ensures we only ever place our bets on work that is built to win.

The Conclusion

I spent years paying the "Indecision Tax." I let my own zombie projects bleed my focus and burn out my best people. I was a leader who mistook motion for progress.

I haven't completely gotten rid of my refusal to stop things; I've just built a system that's more ruthless than my own ego. This framework is the kill switch that I'm now forced to use.

Killing a bad project isn't an act of failure. It is the purest act of leadership. You aren't just stopping the bleeding; you are liberating your team's talent from the graveyard of dead-end work and pointing it toward the battles you can actually win.

This framework is your weapon. It’s your system for replacing ego with evidence. Your defense against wishful thinking. Your kill switch for the ideas that deserve to die.

Stop paying the tax. Stop making excuses.

And start making the calls that win.