# "Let's circle back"

## This week's cartoon

![Cartoon: a cheerful manager waves and walks away along a large gold circular arrow painted on the office floor that loops endlessly back to its start, while an employee stands to the side holding a thin folder, waiting. Manager says, "Great point. Let's circle back."](../../img/cartoons/lets-circle-back.png)

> _Caption: They did, in fact, not circle back._

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### Glossary: *decision latency*

**Decision latency:** the gap between when a decision about you becomes obvious and when it actually gets made. Most career friction lives in this gap. The promotion everyone agrees you have earned but no one has signed. The reorg that is "still being finalized." The raise that is "in the next cycle."

That gap is not harmless. While a decision sits unmade, the default wins, and the default rarely favors you. The move is to attach a date to the decision. A question like "what would need to be true by the next review for this to happen?" turns an open-ended maybe into a tracked commitment. You cannot force a yes, but you can stop the drift.