a bad decision is better than no decision

In Marine officer training we were taught to be decisive. Even a bad decision, I was told, is better than no decision at all. But the combination of imperfect judgment, the confidence of authority and absolute decisiveness does not produce measured outcomes.

陸戰隊軍官的訓練課程教導我們，行事要果斷。他人告訴我，即使做出一個錯誤的決定，也總比沒有決定要好。可是，有缺陷的判斷、對上級的信心和絕對的果斷加在一起，並不會產生可靠的結果。

Until that moment, our deployment in Afghanistan had been exhilarating because we felt invulnerable. This invulnerability in an environment of death was the most powerful sensation I’d ever experienced. I felt favored and possessed with the power to do anything. Instantly, those feelings were replaced by uncertainty and impotency. The initial report that we lost our first Marine stunned everyone who heard it.

在那一刻之前，我們這些部署在阿富汗的士兵一直都很振奮，因為我們感覺自己堅不可摧。在那種時常有人死亡的環境中，這種堅不可摧的念頭，是我體驗過的最強有力的感覺。我感覺受到了眷顧，而且癡迷於那種無所不能的感覺。很快，這些感覺就被不確定和無能為力的感覺所取代。我們失去了第一名士兵的消息剛剛傳來時，每一個聽到的人都震驚了。