Most business owners don’t set out to stall, feel stuck, or fail. But it happens more often than you’d think. And the real reason might surprise you.
It’s not the economy. Not the competition. Not even a lack of time, talent, or effort.
It’s their thinking.
More precisely, it’s using the wrong kind of thinking for the decision being made.
The most common trap? Trying to make strategic (long-term, high-impact) decisions with tactical (short-term, reactive) thinking.
That’s like taking a knife to a gunfight. It ends quickly. And not well.
The Right Thinking for the Right Kind of Work
When a business stalls, gets stuck, or plateaus, it’s rarely due to a lack of action. More often, it’s a mismatch between the decision being made and the thinking applied.
Strategic decisions have longer-term consequences. They require a wider lens, deeper insight, and time to weigh up the issues, goals, options, and potential outcomes. Tactical decisions are made quickly. They’re about quick action and quick wins. That’s not the right thinking for long-term change, performance or growth.
Too often, business owners treat every decision like it’s tactical. They rush, react, and celebrate a job done fast. That’s a risk when the nature of a decision is strategic. It takes different thinking to solve a problem permanently and unlock the potential on offer. Knowing that is what led to me creating the Better Thinking Matrixä.
This model is deceptively simple. But behind it sits a deeper truth: the most successful business owners aren’t the busiest, they’re the sharpest. They see more clearly and think more strategically. They make better decisions, not more decisions.
Its purpose? To help growth-focused business owners choose the right type of thinking for the decision they’re facing before jumping into action, without thinking.
No more overthinking, under-thinking, or second-guessing your decisions.
Introducing the Better Thinking Matrix™
This model highlights what most business owners miss: you need different thinking for different decisions – especially when your goal is better results and better returns.
How to use the matrix: It all starts with asking yourself two simple questions:
- What is the potential impact of this decision? (Low, Medium, or High)
- What is the likely period of impact? (Short, Medium, or Long term)
Answering those two questions will tell you where your decision sits on the Better Thinking Matrix, and what kind of thinking is best suited to that type of decision.
The matrix guides you to match your thinking with the potential of the decision. That shift alone changes everything. You’ll know where to focus, think more clearly, and decide with greater confidence. If what you’re doing is already working, keep going. But, if it’s not, the Better Thinking Matrix™ offers you a new way forward.
Now you’ll know the right thinking for every type of decision, whatever its potential.
Five Steps to Better Decisions
- Choose a decision you need to make.
- Ask: What’s the potential impact? (Low, Medium, or High)
- Ask: What’s the period of impact? (Short, Medium, or Long term)
- Plot both on the matrix—draw lines across and up until they meet.
- Use the quadrant you land in to guide your thinking.
The Four Levels of Thinking
Strategic Thinking:
Sets direction. Shapes the future. Involves high-impact, long-term decisions about your vision, market, business model, positioning, customers, and team.
Impact: High Impact | Long term
Operational Thinking:
Designs and develops systems, processes, and resources that support your strategic direction and enable consistent performance.
Impact: Medium Impact | Medium term
Tactical Thinking:
Responds to short-term needs. It’s about implementation, marketing, sales, service, admin, and day-to-day management.
Impact: High Impact | Short term
Task Thinking:
Focuses on low-level, often habitual activities that require little thought. Important, but not where transformation happens.
Impact: Low impact | Short term
A Real-World Marketing Example
Each of the following marketing activities suits a different level of thinking:
Task Thinking (Low impact, short term):
Update a client’s email or fix a typo in a brochure.
→ Quick fix. No lasting effect.
Tactical Thinking (Short-term impact):
Write and schedule a social post or send a promo email.
→ Drives bursts of attention but needs constant repetition.
Operational Thinking (Medium-term impact):
Create a lead generation system with a CRM and email sequence.
→ Builds consistency, increases conversion, improves workflow.
Strategic Thinking (High impact, long term):
Reposition your brand to target a new market segment.
→ Shapes your future offerings, messaging, and market relevance.
The Better Thinking Matrix Points Out:
- Where to put your attention
- How to think about the decision
- How far into the future it matters
Right Pace, Place and Time
Make sure your pace matches your purpose. Fast decisions are great for tactical wins. But big strategic moves and operational improvements deserve more time.
Task and tactical decisions tend to be instant. You think less, do more, act fast. Sometimes out of routine, often out of habit. Strategic and operational decisions take longer to consider, design, develop and execute, but the returns are greater.
This model shows you where to slow down, where to speed up, where to dig deeper, and where better thinking can lead to a bigger impact over time.
“Slowly is often strongly.” – Andrea Green. Artist.
Change Gears, Change Results
If you find yourself:
- Reacting more than leading
- Chasing tasks instead of shaping direction
- Working hard but not getting further ahead
Then it might be time to change gears. Match – don’t mismatch – your thinking (and your speed of deciding) to the decision, the destination, and the potential on offer.
What Next?
That depends on your ambition. But here’s a good start point:
- Use the ‘Better Thinking Matrix’ä this week on one important decision.
- Ask the two questions: Impact potential? Impact timeframe?
- Match your thinking and pace of deciding to the level required.
If you find yourself deciding before thinking – reacting more than leading, chasing tasks instead of shaping direction, or wondering why all your hard work isn’t leading to more progress – it’s time to stop, think, and change gears.
It takes different thinking to get better results.
For my next blog I’ll also be changing gears and shifting our focus from better thinking to the big picture and what a smart ‘strategy’ can add – once you’re committed to get to the next level of business.
Until then … keep thinking, deciding and doing, even better.
Cheers,
Geoff
P.S. If you found this of value, please share it. Let’s help more small business owners and entrepreneurs realise more of their potential – through better decision-making.
