When you don't have all the facts， you sometimes have to draw on your experience. Whenever I read in a newspaper that Lee Iacocca likes to shoot from the hip， I say to myself： "Well， maybe he's been shooting for so long that by this time he has a pretty good idea of how to hit the target."

    To a certain extent， I've always operated by gut feeling. I like to be in the trenches. I was never one of those guys who could just sit around and strategize endlessly.

    But there's a new breed of businessmen， mostly people with M. B. A.' S， who are wary of intuitive decisions. In part， they're right. Normally， intuition is not a good enough basis for making a move. But many of these guys go to the opposite extreme. They seem to think that every business problem can be structured and reduced to a case study. That may be true in school， but in business there has to be somebody around who will say： "Okay， folks， it's time. Be ready to go in one hour." When I read historical accounts of Word War II and D-Day， I'm always struck by the same thought： Eisenhower almost blew it because he kept vacillating. But finally he said： "No matter what the weather looks like， we have to go ahead now. Waiting any longer could be even more dangerous. So let's move it！"

    The same lesson applies to corporate life. There will always be those who will want to take an extra month or two to do further research on the shape of the roof on a new car. While that research may be helpful， it can wreak havoc on your production plans. After a certain point， when most of the relevant facts are in， you find yourself at the mercy of the law of diminishing returns.

    That's why a certain amount of risk-taking is essential. I realize it's not for everybody. There are some people who won't leave home in the morning without an umbrella even if the sun is shining. Unfortunately， the world doesn't always wait for you try to anticipate your losses. Sometimes you just have to take a chance —— and correct your mistakes as you go along. Back in the 1960s and through most of the 1970s， these things didn't matter as much as they do now. In those days the car industry was like a golden goose. We were making money almost without trying. But today， few businesses can afford the luxury of slow decision-making， whether it involves a guy who's in the wrong job or the planning of a whole new line of cars five years down the road.

    Despite what the textbooks say， most important decisions in corporate life are made by individuals， not by committees. My policy has always been to be democratic all the way to the point of decision. Then I become the ruthless commander. "Okay， I've heard everybody，" I say. "Now here's what we're going to do."

    You always need committees， because that's where people share their knowledge and intentions. But when committees replace individuals —— and Ford these days has more committees than General Motors —— then productivity begins to decline.

    To sun up： nothing stands still in this world. I like to go duck hunting， where constant movement and change and facts of life. You can aim at a duck and get it in your sights， but the duck is always moving. In order to hit the duck， you have to move your gun. But a committee faced with a major decision can't always move as quickly as the events it's trying to respond to. By the time the committee is ready to shoot， the duck has flown away.

    NEW WORDS

    decisiveness n.  the quality or state of being decisive； resoluteness

    decisive a.  showing or marked by determination and firmness

    timetable n.  a list of the times at which things are to be done or happen

    rashly ad. too hastily； recklessly

    flamboyant a.  showy and confident 浮华的，炫耀