---
id: "framework-tough-calls"
type: "framework"
source_timestamps: ["§ Learn to Make Tough Calls Under Pressure", "¶14", "¶15", "¶16"]
tags: ["decision-making", "leadership", "framework"]
related: ["concept-manufactured-instinct", "action-regulate-emotions", "action-review-film", "quote-what-matters-right-now", "quote-instinct-is-preparation"]
steps: ["Before: Set conditions for clarity by proactively planning and testing scenarios. Be deliberate about required data and its format to augment judgment. Learn staff and player behavior prior to high-stakes situations.", "\\\"During: Regulate emotions when faced with a high-pressure choice. Focus strictly on 'what matters right now and only right now.' Repeatedly read the room to identify risks and readiness", "turning preparation into gut instinct.\\\"", "\\\"After: Extensively review", "analyze", "and discuss the 'film' (the event). Normalize being wrong and learn to choose well among viable options while owning the results. Repair trust with the team and use new information to upgrade failing systems.\\\""]
speakers: ["Alan McCall", "Adrian Wolfberg", "Johann Bilsborough", "Ricard Pruna"]
sources: ["execution"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-execution"
originDay: 8
articleStem: "hbr-cl-77-new-data-using-ai"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/new-data-on-how-were-really-using-ai"
sourceTitle: "New Data on How We’re Really Using AI"
---
# Three Phases of Making a Tough Call Under Pressure

Derived from a study of **11 elite sports coaches** ([[entity-alan-mccall]], [[entity-adrian-wolfberg]], [[entity-johann-bilsborough]], [[entity-ricard-pruna]]), this framework translates high-stakes, rapid-fire athletic decision-making into a model applicable to business leaders. It breaks the anatomy of a 'tough call' into three chronological phases — and its core insight is [[concept-manufactured-instinct]]: the visible 'gut call' is manufactured by the invisible work around it.

**1. BEFORE — set conditions for clarity.** Proactively plan and test scenarios. Be deliberate about *which data you need and in what format* to augment judgment. Learn staff and player behavior *before* high-stakes situations arise. Crisis management is won during peacetime — through scenario testing and data hygiene.

**2. DURING — regulate emotions and read the room.** When the high-pressure choice lands, regulate emotion by focusing strictly on **'what matters right now and only right now?'** (see [[quote-what-matters-right-now]] and the practice [[action-regulate-emotions]]). Strip away noise, then repeatedly read the room to identify risks and readiness — this is where preparation surfaces as 'instinct.'

**3. AFTER — review the film and own it.** Extensively review, analyze, and discuss the 'film' (the event). **Normalize being wrong**; learn to choose well among viable options while owning the results. **Repair trust** with the team and use new information to **upgrade failing systems** (see [[action-review-film]]). This phase is rooted in extreme accountability and continuous improvement — treating decisions as iterative learning opportunities where repairing trust and upgrading systems matter as much as the outcome itself.

The central takeaway, quoted as [[quote-instinct-is-preparation]]: *what appears to be instinct is usually the product of preparation, emotional control, pattern recognition, social awareness in the moment, and accountability in the aftermath* — a sentence that itself maps onto the three phases (preparation → Before; emotional control + pattern recognition + social awareness → During; accountability → After).