I recently had the pleasure of speaking at FRP's Decision Economy Panel Event, where the discussion brought the real cost of slow decision-making into sharp focus.

According to FRP's Decision Economy research, delays in decision-making could be costing the UK mid-market as much as £13.7 billion in lost growth each year.

That should make every leadership team take notice.

When organisations talk about barriers to growth, they often focus on market conditions, economic uncertainty, talent shortages, or technology. Yet one of the biggest obstacles may be much closer to home: the speed and quality of daily decisions.

FRP's research suggests organisations could save an average of two weeks of decision-making inactivity by improving data, evidence gathering, governance, and leadership practices. A single delay may seem minor, but repeated across hundreds of decisions, the effect on performance, innovation and growth soon adds up.

Systems and processes matter, but culture plays an equally important role. How decisions are made, challenged, communicated, and acted on can accelerate progress or quietly slow it down. This connection between culture and organisational performance is something we explore further in our Culture at Breaking Point research.

From a leadership perspective, several principles consistently underpin effective decision-making.

Leadership clarity and alignment

Many decision bottlenecks start at the top.

Delays often point to competing priorities, unspoken disagreement, unclear accountability or a lack of trust. Leadership teams that explore how they operate today versus how they need to operate can better resolve tensions, align around priorities, and create a clearer path to action.

These challenges, and the practical steps leaders can take to address them, are explored in our Top Team Troubles research.

Ruthless prioritisation

Organisations rarely struggle because they are doing too little. More often, they are trying to do too much.

Focusing on a small number of critical priorities, then aligning communication, resources and structures around them, creates clarity. When people understand what matters most, they spend less time debating and more time delivering.

Clear governance and fewer bottlenecks

People make better decisions when they know where authority sits.

Who recommends? Who decides? Who needs to be consulted, and who simply needs to be informed?

When these roles are unclear, decisions stall, approvals multiply, and accountability becomes blurred. Clear governance removes uncertainty and helps decisions move at the right pace.

High-quality data

Even experienced leaders struggle to make timely decisions when information is fragmented or unreliable.

Accurate data, accessible insights and effective forecasting give leaders greater confidence to act. AI-enabled analytics, dashboards, and scenario modelling can help organisations spot trends sooner, assess options, and make decisions based on evidence rather than assumptions.

Simulation before reality

The best time to practise a critical decision is before it becomes real.

In our research on leadership that stands the test of crisis, we explore the value of testing responses to high-pressure situations before they happen.

Whether faced with a cyber attack, major data breach, reputational issue or unexpected leadership crisis, organisations that have rehearsed their response are better prepared to make decisions under pressure. They can act faster, coordinate more effectively and reduce risk.

How much is decision drag costing your organisation?

Most organisations have opportunities to improve, but the first step is understanding where you are today.

The results may reveal where decision-making helps your organisation move forward and where hidden friction holds it back.