Workplace Multiplier by Tola Akinsulire

May 28, 2025

Welcome to the Workplace Multiplier newsletter. Published Monday to Friday, equipping you to achieve your professional goals faster and without burnout or overwhelm by leveraging The Triple Win Method.

Are You Making Too Many Decisions?

Howdy ,

I'm proudly "strategically lazy."

This approach has freed up a lot of my mental energy for decisions that actually matter.

I don't want to do what I don't need to do. I only want to do what moves the needle in the key areas I focus on.

I can't make too many decisions, so I completely avoid making decisions in some areas.

This is why I don't stay too long on social media. Every scroll, like, and comment is a micro-decision that depletes the same mental resource I need for strategic thinking.

Too many micro-decisions in a short time - Like, Share, Comment, Scroll, and more - reduce my capacity to make decisions in other areas.

I don't make decisions in areas where other people have core competencies. For the teams I oversee, the team leaders make the decisions for their teams. I am too lazy to be making such decisions for them.

I don't make decisions for people in areas removed from mine. I believe in minding my business.

No, I don't ignore what's happening in other areas. I only share my perspective of things. But I don't make decisions for them.

Even at home, I don't make decisions in areas where anyone else in the house can make the decision better.

Once upon a time, one of my kids used to forget putting the cover on the piano after piano practice.

We had a conversation during which I mentioned that if this continued, the dust build-up could affect the piano, and some keys might not work well.

To "encourage" him, there were going to be consequences every time he did not put the cover on the piano after practice.

But I wasn't going to make that my decision. He was more uniquely qualified to do that. I asked him to come up with 3 "punishment" options.

He did.

I told him to choose which of the three he recommended. Case closed. He made the decision. I was only going to be on the sidelines to make sure the decision is enforced when it needs to.

I'm too lazy to make every decision, so I let him do that.

By being strategically lazy about small decisions, I stay sharp for the ones that truly move the needle - the decisions that only I can make.

Here's what happened: My son doesn’t feel I imposed any punishment on him anytime he does not cover the piano again.

Why? Because he owned the decision. He chose his consequence. He had skin in the game.

This is the power of strategic laziness - it doesn't just preserve your energy, it develops others.

When you step back from decisions others can make, you:

• Build their confidence and capability
• Create ownership and accountability
• Free yourself to focus on what only you can do
• Multiply your impact through others

The result? Better outcomes with less effort. Stronger teams. More strategic thinking time.

Your challenge: Look at your day ahead. What decisions are you making that someone else could make better or learn from making?

Be strategically lazy. Let them decide.

Your most important decisions are waiting for the mental energy you'll save.

Keep winning at work and in life.

Tola Akinsulire

Your Strategic Workplace Mentor

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Want to get in on some of the lessons I have picked up in my career? Get my eBook "21 Lessons I Learned in My Career - A Primer to Help You Become Better at Work". Get it here

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