Kitchen Cabinet Decisions
Slow important decisions down with three trusted outside perspectives
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 99%
Galloway's kitchen cabinet is a small group of trusted people who know enough about you to challenge your reasoning honestly. For a major decision, he slows down and speaks to at least three people rather than treating fast personal certainty as leadership. The adviser does not need to be famous or dramatically ahead in life; sound judgement, trust, and willingness to disagree matter more. The decision-maker shares concrete facts, asks what has been missed, and compares the reasoning behind the responses. This is not decision by committee. The individual still owns the choice, but gains views unavailable from inside the situation. Galloway pairs the practice with screening out low-value decisions so scarce attention can be spent on choices where thoughtful judgement has real leverage.
Origin
Galloway says he now consults at least three people before major decisions, partly because he once rejected a $55 million offer for his strategy firm without seeking outside advice.
Core principles
- 01Important decisions improve when exposed to outside perspective
- 02It is difficult to evaluate your own situation from inside it
- 03Trusted dissent matters more than automatic agreement
- 04Routine decisions should not consume the attention reserved for consequential ones
How to run it
- 1
Select the cabinet
Choose three or four people who understand you, exercise sound judgement, and can disagree without serving their own interest. Include relevant expertise when the decision demands it.
Pro tip Prefer people who have corrected you usefully before.
Watch out Do not rely only on people who benefit from your preferred answer.
- 2
Expose the real decision
Share the numbers, alternatives, constraints, and emotional stakes. State the answer you currently prefer so advisers can inspect its pull.
Pro tip Describe what would make you change your mind.
- 3
Ask for missing angles
Ask what you have overlooked, why your preferred choice may be wrong, and what a simpler alternative would look like. Seek reasoning rather than reassurance.
Pro tip Use the question, 'What would you tell me if you were not worried about my reaction?'
- 4
Compare the reasoning
Look for repeated risks, decisive facts, and disagreements rooted in different assumptions. Do not reduce the cabinet to a majority vote.
Pro tip Write down the assumptions that changed after each conversation.
- 5
Decide and review
Make the decision yourself and record why. Revisit the advice after the outcome to improve both your judgement and the cabinet's usefulness.
Pro tip Tell advisers what you chose and what happened.
Watch out Consultation does not transfer responsibility for the outcome.
In the wild
At 33, Galloway says he rejected a $55 million offer for a small strategy company because he expected internet-era growth to make it worth far more. He believes a few outside advisers would have challenged the gap between the offer and the firm's roughly $3 million in annual consulting revenue.
→ The missed consultation became his example of why consequential decisions need external perspective.
Common mistakes
Asking only for approval
A cabinet adds little when the decision-maker hides facts or punishes disagreement.
Counting votes
Three opinions are inputs; the quality of their reasoning matters more than a simple majority.
Outsourcing ownership
Advice can improve a decision, but the person making it remains responsible for the choice.
Is it for you?
Best for
Major career, business, financial, and relationship decisions where the outcome is costly or hard to reverse.
Not ideal for
Urgent safety decisions or routine choices where delay costs more than additional perspective can add.
From the transcript
“It is really hard to read the label from inside of the bottle.”
“I don't make a big decision now without speaking to at least three people.”
“slow the process down”
From the episode
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