The Right Call Takes More Than Luck

There’s an old baseball story about Tom Greenwade, a scout for the Yankees, coming to a fork in the road while trying to find a young kid playing somewhere in Oklahoma. All Greenwade knows is there’s a hotshot talent in a small town—he isn’t sure of the kid’s name or his hometown.

Since this was 1945, there were no cell phones, no Google, no Waze. Greenwade had to make a choice when he reached the fork—go right or go left. He decided to go right, and two miles down the road, he discovered Mickey Mantle of Commerce, Oklahoma.

Now, the story isn’t true. Greenwade already knew about Mantle from being a tireless scout covering the Southwest for the Yankees, driving his Cadillac and wearing a perfect suit to every baseball field in his area. But the story sticks because it taps into something we all want to believe—if we make the right decision, we’ll strike gold. If only it were that simple.

Every day, we make thousands of decisions. Some big, some small, some impactful, some barely noticeable. But no decision stands alone—each one has some kind of ripple effect. Choosing to have dessert might be easy, but it comes with a sugar high that could cause other issues. The harder the decision, the bigger the ripple.

To really understand decision-making, it helps to go back to the root of the word. The word "decision" comes from the Latin decisio, meaning "a cutting off." It’s built from decidere—where de- means "off" and caedere means "to cut." That idea of cutting off or cutting away is at the heart of what it means to decide: you’re choosing one path while severing the others.

By the 14th century, the word had made its way into Middle English as decisioun, borrowed from Old French. Over time, it came to mean reaching a conclusion after careful thought.

And that’s the thing—decision-making is rarely simple. Every choice we make means giving up something else. That’s why so many decisions come with hesitation, doubt, and second-guessing.

Tex Thornton, a well-known business figure, once said, “If all the facts could be known, any idiot could make decisions.” And he was right. The problem is, we almost never have all the facts. We’re constantly making decisions with incomplete information, navigating through uncertainty, relying on judgment, experience, and sometimes just gut instinct.

Since no decision comes with a perfect roadmap, here are a few simple principles to keep in mind:

1. Know your goals and limits. Keep things simple.

2. Think outside the box. Get different perspectives.

3. Action over perfection. No decision is flawless—adjust as needed.

4. Be willing to change your mind. Don’t worry about consistency. Worry about being right.

5. Don’t let emotions take over. Keep a clear head.

Great decisions start by cutting out the noise and getting clear on what matters. And once you commit, be flexible enough to adapt.

No one is going to stumble into success just by picking the right road at a fork, like the old Greenwade myth suggests. Making the right call takes more than luck—it takes judgment, courage, and a willingness to make adjustments along the way.

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