I believe that:

• Only one person can effectively own a decision
• Delegation is about handing off decisions (and not just “work”)
• Owning a decision makes you responsible for it
• Everyone is entitled to an opinion but that’s orthogonal to the decison making
• Sometimes good decisions result in bad outcomes
• Sometimes bad decisions result in good outcomes
• You should reward the quality of decision not the quality of the outcome
• Once a decision has been made you should respect it
• Once something has been decided, that doesn’t make it set in stone
• As your boss, I may disagree with your decision, but it is still your decision
• As your boss, I do not automatically have the ability to override your decisions, only take away decision-making authority
• As your boss, I will override your decision if I believe it is highly likely to cause significant damage, but only then

Thanks to Roy Rapoport for helping me shape some of these beliefs